As the holiday season draws near, many of us are thinking about giving to those who are less fortunate. But sometimes our drive to give back is weaker than our social media addiction. Luckily, there are now several ways to do both at once.
1) Kiva.org
Whether you’ve got just $25, or… any higher increment of $25, Kiva is a microfinance charity that lets you offer loans to small businesses around the world—without ever leaving your desk.
Your $25 contribution might help Morozova Purev, a Mongolian grocer and grandmother, stock up on goods. Or it might fund a loan request from Danilo Gamit, a Filipino farmer, buy more fertilizer and send his kids to school. It’s your choice, and you can browse Kiva’s visual platform until you find an entrepreneur whose story resonates with you.
It’s not just the loan selection that makes Kiva social. You can make new friends by browsing loaners’ profiles. You can even invite your friends on Facebook or Twitter to collaborate with you to fund a loan request that you can’t quite afford to grant.
2) 52×52
With this charity, your Twitter addiction is no longer a hindrance but a valuable asset. This year graphic designer and Twitter superstar Jessica Hische launched 52×52 “as a way for those with social influence to use their online reach to help others.”
“A healthy following on twitter can do wonders for a career, but can be even better when put to use helping those in need,” she wrote.
Participants can pledge to donate $52, $25, or $10 every week of the year. These numbers are displayed next to each participant’s Twitter profile picture. All participants are expected to tweet regularly about donations in order to raise awareness. Each week, Hische selects a different, deserving charity, but encourages users to donate to the fund of their choice if they’d prefer.
“The charities we’ll feature will be suggestions and since we are not collecting any money, you’re free to donate to whomever you wish. We’re a messenger, not a middle-man,” she wrote.
For the do-gooder who wants to gain more followers in a hurry, this charity is ideal.
3) Freerice
Feeding the hungry doesn’t get any easier than this. Freerice is a web-based game that lets you fight global hunger while answering multiple-choice questions. For each answer you get correct, the site donates 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.
On this charity site, you never have to play alone. You can up the competition by inviting your Facebook friends or by joining a group. If you’re a top player, your profile will show up on the official blog. Freerice also holds annual contests to keep the stakes raised.
Dubbed one of Time’s 50 best websites of 2011, Freerice is a social experience as well as a charity. Perhaps that’s how it has managed to donate 93 billion grains of rice–enough food to feed 4.32 million people for a day.
Photo by stevendopolo
