The Currency of Appreciation

Image by jaredchapman via Flickr

Twitter really is a great place to do good! Epic Change have used it to great effect with their Tweetsgiving campaign, then there was Twestival successfully raising $250,000 for Charity:Water and TwittaCause working to raise $1 million for charity. Now there are Twollars!

Twollars are Twitter's currency of appreciation. They are designed to do good by rewarding positive actions on Twitter - posting a great link, sharing a useful tip or inspiring tweet.

How do you get them?

Every Twitterer starts off with 5o Twollars to pass on to other Twitterers as a Thank You or donate to Charity. When you run out you can buy more from a Charity registered on Twollar (so far there are 27 to choose from) at an exchange rate of $1 for every 10 Twollars.

Passing them on is easy - all you do is tweet something along the lines of @acfusa 5 Twollars for doing great work.

Twollars is a great way to help out some great charities even if you have no funds to donate. It offers charities an opportunity to raise awareness for their cause by having supporters tweeting Twollars to them. Its also a great way to launch a campaign via Twitter - supporters can help by tweeting Twollars or by purchasing them for cold, hard cash.

Join the appreciation economy - its booming!!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Twollars: An Innovative Approach to Fundraising on Twitter (mashable.com)
• Twitter Gets Its Own Currency (rotorblog.com)

Vote for an Epic Idea at IdeaBlob

I've mentioned Epic Change a couple of times in this blog (here & here to be exact) - they are one of my favourite charities - mostly because they are a wonderful example of how a group of committed individuals really can create epic change.

This month they are finalists at IdeaBlob and in the running for $10,000.

Here's a note from Stacey Monk - founder of Epic Change - telling what the funds will be used for and how you can help them win the $10,000:

We plan to use those funds to create a technology lab at the school in Tanzania so that children, teachers and parents in the community can access a whole new world of information enter global conversations by using social media to share their stories online. Already, Mama Lucy is blogging on our site, and has just gotten a Facebook page where she's already posted a note asking folks to begin voting tomorrow ;)

So far, we've had 20 great laptops donated and have procured basic software through TechSoup - now we just need to get the computers to Tanzania, build a facility that will also serve as the school's first library, and imaginatively get this remote classroom access to the web. This award could be very helpful in moving us closer to these goals - especially in economic times like these where small nonprofits like ours are having a more difficult time raising donor funds.

We Need Your Help!!
Here's how you can help if you're so moved (and I really hope you are!):

1. Vote! Beginning tomorrow, you can vote for Epic Change on our IdeaBlob entry or on the front page of Ideablob. If you haven't already voted on the site, you'll just need an email address as they'll send a registration confirmation email before allowing you to vote.
   
2. Write a post on your blog sharing why you support our work and asking folks to vote for Epic Change on IdeaBlob. Remember, voting begins tomorrow and ends on 5/31, so posts between Friday and Tuesday especially would be SUPER helpful.
3. Help us win even more! Another company, Zemanta, is currently hosting "Blogging for a Cause" , an effort to get bloggers to spread the word about their favorite causes. If you include the following copy in your blog post, we could win a share of the $6,000 they're giving away to the most "blogged" causes. Just include this text at the bottom of your post:

This blog post is part of Zemanta's "Blogging For a Cause" campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

4. Spread the word to friends, colleagues, family, fellow bloggers and other folks who have a few minutes to spare to change the world ;) Use Twitter, Facebook & Email!!

If you plan to blog about us, please send me a tweet (@StaceyMonk) or jot me an email (stacey@epicchange.org) so I know to look out for your post and can create a link to it from a summary post at the Epic Change blog.

This blog post is part of Zemanta's "Blogging For a Cause" campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

#charitytuesday

Image by Swamibu via Flickr

Tuesday is Charity Day on Twitter!

The #charitytuesday tag is a way to find charities who tweet and was started by John Carnell and others to help Charity organisations (and their supporters) raise awareness for their cause.

Here's a selection of the tweets from this week:

@Lamplightdb @Th3MissingLink add the #charitytuesday tag to get your message out to a wider twitter audience (on tuesdays!). See @JohnCarnell @bullyinguk

@chickensrule We collect eggs during our Atlanta Pet Chicken Meetup meetings and donate them to a food bank. Get your friends on board! #charitytuesday

@mmgalvan21 Help 4 hurting Chicago (land) teens at http://www.houseofhopeillinois.org #charitytuesday

@ssigafoos #charitytuesday be sure to check out @LIfeRollsOn - an advocate of young people whose lives have been affected by spinal cord injury.

@RizzoTees RT @dlayphoto: @RizzoTees Can u help? #Eric needs a new heart. Please spread the word. http://weloveeric.com #fryretweet #charitytuesday

@AnnetteSzczepan CANCER IS HARD! WALKING IS NOT! PLEASE RETWEET! http://tiny.cc/aHJ0E #charitytuesday

@louisekearney RT @mealexchange: 7% of goal - Grocery Cart Challenge - $28 will provide 34 meals. Please donate and RT #charitytuesday http://bit.ly/OGIMJ

@bullyinguk Ty so much RT @charityshops: http://bit.ly/jxCLa #charitytuesday officially takes off - well done to everyone for making it such a success!

Don't forget to join in the fun next week!

Night Night Sleep Tight

A good night's sleep makes the world of difference - and for kids living with the insecurity of homelessness, a good night's sleep can be hard to come by.

Project night night aims to provide some basic bedtime comforts to transient and homeless kids across America.

Project Night Night donates individual tote bags each filled with a security blanket, an age-appropriate book, and a stuffed animal to children (ages 0-10) in homeless shelters.

Want to help? You can get involved by making a donation of money, volunteering your time or skills or hosting an event to raise funds.

This blog post is part of Zemanta's "Blogging For a Cause" campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Largest Homeless Shelter in LA Orders More EDARs to Meet Influx of Families (takepart.com)
• Ride with Meaning: Bringing Awareness to Homelessness (chilmarkresearch.com)
• Great post from Change.org - Hiding the Homeless: Super Bowl Edition (legalulcer.com)
• 12-year-old Builds Homeless Shelter Yurt from Trash [Home Dome] (i.gizmodo.com)

For the Love of Liz

Liz Logelin died on the 25th of March 2008, leaving behind her husband, Matt, and one day old daughter Madeline.

Matt Logelin had been writing a blog to keep friends and family up to date throughout Liz's pregnancy. He continued writing after her death and a supportive community of individuals formed around it. His blog became a place where he could share his joys, frustrations, sorrows and challenges. Where friends and well-wishers could offer support and where other widows and widowers could find friendship and comfort.

The Liz Logelin Foundation sprung from this community and has been created to offer assistance to families who find themselves in the heartbreaking, catastrophic situation of having lost a spouse, life-partner, and parent. The Foundation’s goal is to financially assist these families as they deal with the loss of their loved ones, and struggle to move forward.

You can help the Liz Logelin Foundation by joining their community of donors and donating $7 on the 7th to help families who have lost loved ones.

Get Blogging for a Cause

Image via Wikipedia

Want to earn your favourite charity a share of (at least) $6000?

Silly question. Of course you do!

The clever folk at Zemanta have been working with Social Actions, an initiative that aggregates civic causes from more than 50 databases, to create a tool that recommends charitable causes to bloggers while they write. In recognition of their great work they were awarded 2nd prize at the Change The Web Challenge.

Zemanta have chosen to donate the $3000 prize money to charity - and the good guys at Social Innovation Greenhouse @ Weber Shandwick have generously offered to match that donation. But its up to bloggers to decide who gets the money.

All you have to do is blog about your favourite cause - and get as many people as you can to join with you! The 5 charities with the most blog posts get to share the money! You have until the 6th of June to get your post out there!

You need to add a wee snippet of code to your blog post so that Zemanta can find it. You can get you code here.

Who are you going to blog about? Add the link to your Blogging For A Cause post on the comments below!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Zemanta now suggests ways to change the world (zemanta.com)
• Change the World With One Click: Zemanta Adds Volunteer Opportunities to Blog Posts (readwriteweb.com)

Nothing is Certain but Death and Taxes

Image by kiddharma via Flickr

Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
-Benjamin Franklin

As much as we don't like to think about our mortality, we all have to die some time. Most of us expect it will be something that sneaks up on us quickly and hopefully painlessly - but as any good Life Insurance salesperson will tell you this is not always how it happens. Many of us will need some palliative care at the end of our lives.

May's 12for12k Charity is the Hospice of Peel. Located in Mississauga, Ontario, the Hospice of Peel aims to be recognized as the foremost provider of, and resource for, hospice care. When illnesses can no longer be treated medically, the volunteers and trained professionals of the Hospice of Peel are the emotional response for those affected.

Many people do not realise that hospice is a philosophy of care, not a building. Hospice cares for the whole person; not just their physical needs, but also their emotional, spiritual and social needs. We care for families and friends as well, both before and after a death.
- from Good Magazine

To be able to offer this kind of caring and support for the patient and the family, the Hospice of Peel relies on both its volunteers and donations from the community, locally and nationally.

Its Hospice Awareness Week from May 11-17 - so its a great time to donate to the Hospice of Peel below:

If you are in New Zealand, grab a subscription to Good magazine before 14 June and they will donate $9 to Hospice New Zealand.

Epic Change Needs Your Help

Epic Change needs your help to win a $25,000 social media makeover from MindComet!

Inspired by a volunteer trip to Tanzania, Stacey Monk and Sanjay Patel created Epic Change in 2007. They realised the power of the local stories they heard during their journey, and believed that they might be a means to raise funds to support the impoverished communities they visited and others around the globe.

Epic Change uses donations to provide interest-free loans to local partners to finance their community improvement efforts. They then facilitate loan repayment by helping their partners to share their stories through projects that generate income. Finally they "pay it forward" by recycling repaid loans and creating Epic Change in other communities.

Their first project is with Shepherds Junior, a small primary school in Arusha, Tanzania. So far, Epic Change has provided loans that have enabled the school to purchase land, build 5 new classrooms and a refurbished school bus. The school roll has doubled in size and in November 2008, Shepherds Junior participated in national exams for the first time. The school ranked #1 out of 117 participating schools in the Arusha district.

Through the sale of a line of cards and gifts that share the stories of the children of Shepards Junior, the school has been able to pay back over 15% of their initial loan in just over a year!

Every year, Mindcomet chooses a non-profit organisation to work with and provides free-of-charge agency services and donations. So far they have worked with Orlando History Center, Habitat for Humanity, the American Cancer Society, Race for A Cure, and Toys for Tots.

This year, they couldn't choose a favourite. So they launched CommuniCause to help them select the organization to receive their pro bono social media services. So you get to nominate and vote for your favorite charity to help them win the grand prize of a Social Media Makeover valued at $25,000.

A winner will be randomly selected from the top ten charities that receive the most votes and upon awarding the winner, MindComet will provide the winner with expert consulting services to help improve their social media presence and fundraising outreach.

Carnival of Digital Philanthropy Volume 5

Image via Wikipedia

Welcome to the May 1, 2009 edition of carnival of digital philanthropy.

Please Stumble the posts you like, or submit them to other social bookmarking services. Let's promote each other, as well as this blog carnival.

Elaine at Lipstickdaily presents One Mom at a Time posted at lipstickdaily.com, saying, "Lipstickdaily supports microfinance - empowering women in Africa."

Kathryn Hawkins presents A Grown-up’s Guide to Six Causes That Kids Love posted at Razoo.

Gunnar Engblom presents Lobbying Ashton Kutcher for conservation. posted at A birding blog by Gunnar Engblom.

Christine presents Celebrate World Environment Day - Let?s do the SIFT! posted at Sustainable Initiatives Fund | Blog.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of digital philanthropy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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• Give and Be Happy (consciousconsuming.blogspot.com)