Despite what the upcoming apocolypse known as Black Friday would have you think, a new report says almost 70 percent of people will give less this holiday season. In cash-strapped times, charitable supporters are getting creative with their giving … you know how much I love giving/getting goodies with charitable ties (more posts on that coming up soon)! To tide you over, here are six ways you can “give without giving” online right now:
Shop online. GoodShop.com works with more than 2,500 retailers (including Amazon,Gap, Target, Staples and Macy’s) to give a percentage of almost every purchase back to the shopper’s favorite charity. In addition, GoodShop lists more than 100,000 coupons so that shoppers can save money and do good at the same time! GoodShop currently works with more than 102,000 charities and schools.
Search the Internet: GoodSearch.com donates about a penny per search to the charity the user designates. It’s powered by Yahoo. Together with GoodShop, GoodSearch has raised more than $8 million for charity.
Dine out: GoodDining.com works with more than 10,000 restaurants across the country and each time you dine, up to 6% of what you spend is donated to your favorite charity.
Redeem credit card points. You can turn unused credit card points into a charitable donation to your cause. Both American Express and Citi Card offer this program.
Volunteer: There are a handful of companies that match volunteer hours with funds. For example, Microsoft will match volunteer time at $17 an hour through its Volunteer Time Matching program. Boeing, Exxon, Intel, Chevron, and Bank of America have similar programs.
Recycle your old electronics: Send your electronics to Gazelle.com and cash generated from that will be donated to charity.
To date, GoodSearch has donated more than $8 million to over 102,000 charities and schools designated by its users.