In this final post of 2013, I asked a few people for their tips on keeping generosity alive in 2014. These are real people with really practical ideas.

Here are my two favorite.

Easy ways to keep Giving Tuesday generosity alive in 2014

1. Explore payroll deduction

   “If your employer has a program setup, make charitable contributions through payroll deductions. The advantages of this are:

   • It is much easier than having to write a check or enter your credit card online
   • It makes it easier to consistently donate, once you set it up, you don’t have to worry about it anymore
   • It makes your contributions more valuable if your employer has a matching program
   • At the end of the year, you have a record of exactly how much you gave for tax purposes
   • You can typically choose from a variety of organizations (both local and national) to give to

   Click Here for more information on how to give through payroll deductions.”

   Jay Kelly, VP-Operations, Social Media Explorer

2. Don’t wait for “influencers”

   “Be generous with your invitations; everyone has something to offer.

   “In this social media realm of experts, followers and Klout, it’s tempting to only extend opportunities and partnerships to certain ‘influencers.’ But this year, I’ve been amazed and humbled by what less ‘established’ people offer when invited to contribute. Be open to giving everyone a chance; the potential rewards are worth it.”

   Marlene Oliveira, Founder and Managing Editor, Nonprofit MarCommunity

What will you resolve?

Those are a couple ideas for helping keep generosity alive in 2014. What will you resolve to do?

Tell us in the comments!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Tell Social Media Explorer about My Donation for Aggregated Reporting Purposes Here

Read more about Social Media Explorer’s #GivingTuesday program.

The post Keeping Giving Tuesday alive all year – #GivingTuesday appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Donations doubled this year compared to last, and many nonprofits around the world saw a typically quiet Tuesday become a fundraising day!

Keep Giving Tuesday going all year, $1 at a time

Many of us aren’t the philanthropists we’d like to be. But we can still make a difference.

One easy way to keep the Giving Tuesday spirit alive is the One Today app by Google. (Download it at the Google Play Store.)

This simple app alerts you each day about a cause that you may be interested in. You can learn more about it or search for other causes.

The best part? Google makes is ridiculously easy to donate $1 to the cause (or more). It even helps you rally your friends if you want to (but that’s not required). They even make it incredibly easy for you to challenge your friends by matching their gifts.

As you give to projects on One Today, the app learns what projects interest you and will show you more and more causes in line with your values.

For a fundraising guy like me, this app is pretty cool.

Make a gift today

To get started, just download the app at the Google Play Store.

Giving has never been easier!

If you’re a nonprofit, you can learn more about registering for One Today at http://www.google.com/onetoday/nonprofits.html.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Tell Social Media Explorer about My Donation for Aggregated Reporting Purposes Here

Read more about Social Media Explorer’s #GivingTuesday program.

The post One Today – #GivingTuesday appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

We don’t need an organized day on the calendar to give.

Nichole Kelly started SME off on the giving path last Christmas. Since then, C.C. Chapman and Marc Pitman, two of the most incredibly kind and passionate people you’ll meet, have given us profiles of dozens of organizations and causes to support. If you’d like to review, we’ve got a whole category of #GivingTuesday posts here.

But our focus on #GivingTuesday is not a content strategy. It’s not a one-off idea to fill the coffers here so the search engines have something to feed on. It’s so we can enlighten you, our wonderful readers, about the opportunities you have to help organizations and efforts to help make our world a better place.

So we’ll keep doing #GivingTuesday posts. We figure you won’t mind and will even occasionally enjoy supporting the organizations we tell you about.

The effort I want to tell you about this Tuesday is, ironically, a little selfish, but in a very altruistic way. As you know, my day job is now at CafePress. We’ve recently announced a partnership with the American Red Cross that will allow us to not only support the fantastic, life-saving organization, but also respond quickly as a company to disaster relief efforts and other urgent needs the Red Cross sees.

(Trust me, giving money away as a publicly traded company is complicated. This partnership allows CafePress to immediately turn fan designs and other products our community creates in the wake of a disaster and immediately put profits to good use!)

To kick off the partnership, we thankfully don’t have to respond to a disaster. What we have done is launch custom holiday ornaments that you can create using your own art, family photos or designs. A portion of the proceeds goes directly to the American Red Cross. We hope it will be the first of many opportunities we have to drive donations while giving the donator (that would be you) something in return — an ornament, tee shirt or other product.

Whether you go get a custom ornament or not, don’t let Dec. 3 be the only #GivingTuesday. It’s not at Social Media Explorer. We hope it isn’t for you.

The post Every Tuesday is #GivingTuesday at Social Media Explorer appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Yet, I have not seen a single news story about Giving Tuesday which is today!

It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization to come together to give something more. Then tell everyone you can about how you are giving. Be a part of a national celebration of our great tradition of generosity.

Instead of only focusing in on how you can spend money on yourself and gifts for others, this day was created so you could take some of your energy and dollars and put them towards worthy causes.

Last year, we started the #GivingTuesday weekly column here to shine a light on organizations that needed it and to encourage you to help. Today we want you to take the time to step up and make the world a better place.

Take and Share an #UNselfie on Instagram & Facebook

Upload a selfless selfie to your Instagram account and use the hashtags #UNselfie and #GivingTuesday to let the world know you support the cause.

Tweet Your Support

Here are a few tweets that you can copy and paste to help get the word out.

• #GivingTuesday is a day for everyone, everywhere, to GIVE! @GivingTues
• Celebrate #GivingTuesday- donate to a @GivingTues partner at givingtuesday.org
• Enough shopping –time for GIVING! Happy #GivingTuesday! @GivingTues

Post on Facebook to Show Your Support

Handy dandy status updates that can make a difference.

• Join the worldwide #GivingTuesday movement – take a moment to visit givingtuesday.org and donate to an organization that speaks to a cause you believe in!
• #GivingTuesday is a day for everyone, everywhere, to GIVE! Find a cause that matters to you at Givingtuesday.org
• Tell me how YOU are participating in #GivingTuesday. Take a video of your #GivingTuesday activities or take an #UNSelfie, and share what you’re doing on Facebook. Twitter or Instagram!

Change Your Avatars and Photos for the Day

We all know people may not notice when you get a haircut, but they do notice when you change your avatar. Consider using one of these to get even more attention.

Visit GivingTuesday.org to Find Out More

Take the time to find out as much as you can about this movement because I hope we can all agree it is better and more important than any of the other “special” days around Thanksgiving.

Giving Tuesday has a great website full of information. Be sure that you don’t miss their partner list of organizations who are actively involved.

Thank you for helping make this years #GivingTuesday a big success!

The post TODAY Is #GivingTuesday appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

The Haitian Kreyol word for “hope” is “espwa.” And that’s exactly what Project Espwa does for the children in the community of Leogane, Haiti. One of the reasons I’m impressed by Project Espwa is their staying power. Their initial projects were in 2010 in direct response to the earthquake, “doza janvie.” Most groups would’ve stopped there, trusting some other entity to fill the long-term needs. But not Project Espwa. They kept going back.

Each time, they learned more and more about the community and adjusted their response accordingly. Over the years, they’ve determined that healthy bodies and strong minds are foundational to a solid future, so now they focus on projects that promote good health and quality education. They started with projects securing clean water systems, reliable power, and permanent shelter. They have earned enough trust that they were recently granted property to build a school and orphanage in a town called Gracie! Their current projects include:

1. Build and equip a top-notch private school in the Leogane area of Haiti – to serve up to 200 children.
2. Partner with medical professionals to establish a health clinic in close proximity to the school.
3. Establish a “Sponsorship” program to help fund the cost of education for at least 100 students.

Make a gift today

You can make a gift today to support their work by clicking on the “Donate Now” button or going directly here on PayPal. Your donation will continue the ongoing work in Haiti!

You can see pictures of their work in the gallery on their site at, http://www.projectespwa.com/gallery/.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Tell Social Media Explorer about My Donation for Aggregated Reporting Purposes Here

Read more about Social Media Explorer’s #GivingTuesday program.

The post Project Espwa – #GivingTuesday appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

Time and time again you’ll hear me stress that giving is more than just writing a check and I want you to keep that in mind as we head into the holidays this year.

We all know that this is the biggest fund raising time for most organizations, so you are going to be seeing tweets, letters and commercials all asking for your donations.

Make Sure Your Money is Being Used Appropriately

Use a site like Charity Navigator to learn about any organization before you give them money. They have details on all legitimate charities (currently 1.6 million of them) and I like to use them to see how organizations spend the money they are given.

Plus, they keep an updated Donor Advisories page for all to see.

Buy Gifts That Give Back

For years, I’ve loved to give gifts that help a nonprofit at the same time.

As an example, if you want to help the victims of the recent typhoon in the Philippines you could donate directly to the Red Cross or another group. But, you could also buy one of these beautiful prints from artist Len Peralta like I did.

I’m also planning on buying gifts this year from Project Bead, fashionABLE and ONE.

People love getting gifts with a story behind them and it is the perfect way to introduce your favorite causes to your friends and family.

Don’t Forget Local Needs

It is very easy to get caught up in trying to save the world at large. I know from experience.

But, don’t forget that there are tons of groups just outside your front door that could use your time and resources too. Look online for local events happening where you can donate food, clothes or other items to help your community. Call up your local soup kitchen and see if there is some way you can help.

Join a Board

I’m proud to say that I am on the Board of Directors of two great organizations.

Wediko works to improve children’s lives through a range of therapeutic services and programs which are tailored to fit each unique child and situation.

The Hockey Foundation’s mission is to use ice hockey to reinforce character strengths, improve the quality of life and empower children in less fortunate regions of the world.

It is hard to put into words how good it feels to give back on a day-to-day basis by officially being involved with a charity. When you find a group that is close to your heart and you want to help, let them know your interest. They may not have an opening now, but I’m sure they’ll take any help you can give them.

Don’t Forget To Give Back

This is the reason #GivingTuesday was first created.

We all hear the hype, commercials and news reports about Black Friday and people would rush out to spend money.

Giving gifts is great, but helping out those who need it is even better.

Please take the above advice and find the charities that appeal to you and then find the best way to donate to them this holiday season.

Thank you.

The post Be Smarter With Your Holiday Giving This Year appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

(See what I did there?)

Started 10 years ago, VisionQuest 20/20 is best known for it’s making eye exams available for all school age children in the USA. I personally know the need. My wife and I had no idea our first child had vision problems until we took him for an eye exam when he was 6 or 7. It turns out that he needed strong glasses!

Making sure kids can see

Misdiagnosed vision problems can lead to behavior and learning issues. According to the VisionQuest 20/20 site, 1 in 4 school aged children have undetected and untreated vision disorders! They claim this leads to societal costs of more than $50 billion!

Creatively using tech

A cool aspect of VisionQuest 20/20 is their use of technology to make these exams incredibly affordable and fun! Their innovative EyeSpy 20/20 video game allows kids to “play” while detecting vision problems.

This test is completely scalable (unlike the traditional letters projected on a wall test) and is sophisticated enough to test each eye individually! You can read more at: http://www.visionquest2020.org/thetechnology.asp.

Like my son, if vision problems are discovered early enough, they can be corrected. Some of the benefits are increased grades, increased self esteem, and being able to fully participate in sports.

All from corrected vision!

Make a gift today

Your donation to VisionQuest 20/20 helps make vision screenings available for free. You can sponsor tests, with a little banner that will also be printed out and sent home on the test results. Or you can just donate to make these tests open to more kids.

To learn more, listen to the founders talk about VisionQuest 20/20:

Tell Social Media Explorer about My Donation for Aggregated Reporting Purposes Here

Read more about Social Media Explorer’s #GivingTuesday program.

The post VisionQuest 20/20 – #GivingTuesday appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

They see families as a critical part of every child’s education. Even better, they help families become hotspots for learning. From the classroom to the dinner table, NCFL’s programs help parents and children move from where they are to where they want to be. I love this approach because I know that while my kid’s schools play an important part, what we do at home to continue their learning is equally important.

When I was asked to be an advisor to NCFL, I instantly said yes. That is why I want to tell you more about who they are and what they do.

NCFL views education as a family affair. Every parent is an asset; every family is a resource. Whether it’s reading on grade level or pursuing higher education, the results propel families towards achieving their dreams and our country towards success. It may not get talked about in the press much, but it is more important than ever.

Sometimes changing is necessary to stay true to your vision. Noting shifts in our ever-changing world, and even the language families use everyday (learning not literacy), NCFL changed their name to the National Center for Families Learning last week. While “Literacy” is an important term, it always felt too academic to me and not a word that gets used around the dinner table very often. Changing the last word in their name to “learning” leaves it much more open ended and I think will allow them to break through to more families. Plus, their name is now large enough to hold their dreams and full mission.

NCFL focuses on maximizing real-world situations as opportunities for learning. Our lives are demanding and our time is limited, but families can create their very own hotspots for learning in their everyday lives. We spend time in the car, at the grocery store and around the dinner table. Why not add a little fun, learning and wondering to all of them?

Earlier this year, I spoke with beneficiaries of NCFL’s work. They told me of the transformation NCFL made possible. From struggling to complete day to day to now excelling in higher education and careers, their stories have a common denominator: families learning together. NCFL has a wide network of educators supporting their efforts, too. From classroom teachers to librarians to pioneering thought leaders across settings, they all unify to meet families where they are and improve education together.

In honor of their new name and National Family Literacy Month®, NCFL is raising money to support literacy and learning in communities nationwide.

They’ve launched the Big Give for Families Learning, an online fundraising challenge. I’m thrilled to support an organization that’s not afraid to try new tactics, so I’ve joined the #NCFLBigGive. For this #GivingTuesday, please consider donating to help families learn together by clicking here.

I couldn’t write about NCFL without mentioning my personal favorite thing they do and that is Wonderopolis.

Every day, this website provides a different Wonder of the Day® — available to you and children you love free of charge. The Wonder of the Day focuses around high-interest subjects in the form of a question (such as “Do Your Taste Buds Change?” and “Why Is the Sky Blue?”), with a written passage that even reads to you, a related video, vocabulary words and more.

My kids and I have enjoyed many of these and I’ve learned that many teachers will use these in their classroom to spark wonder among the students, which of course leads to increased learning.

While I’m betting most of you have never heard of NCFL, I hope you can appreciate the work they do. With all the distractions our children have surrounding them, it is crucial that parents and teachers instill in our kids a sense of wonder and a desire to learn about the world around them. This is what NCFL is trying to do and I hope you will consider learning more about them, donating or simple sharing the great things they do!

Thank you and happy November.

The post National Center for Families Learning – #GivingTuesday appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

You can go through the process of checking financials on a site like GuideStar.org, interviewing board members and staff, and checking news stories. But that takes a lot of time.

An alternative is to let your local United Way.

Let the United Way do the vetting

The nearly 1800 local United Ways work in 45 countries and territories to better their communities. Each United Way collaborates with thousands of volunteers to vet nonprofits so you don’t have to. These volunteers are

• Creating framework for assessing the needs in their community
• Convening the nonprofits to help them seek funding
• Working with employers to help make it easy for employees to contribute
• And work to assess the nonprofits are stewarding the gifts well.

All so you don’t have to!

Make a gift today

There are lots of ways you can take action. You can volunteer for local causes, you can advocate for them, and you can donate. Simply go to http://www.unitedway.org/take-action/ to find out more about supporting your local United Way!

There are lots of videos on the United Way YouTube channel. Here’s one:

Tell Social Media Explorer about My Donation for Aggregated Reporting Purposes Here

Read more about Social Media Explorer’s #GivingTuesday program.

The post United Way – #GivingTuesday appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

As we’ve seen from other #GivingTuesday posts like Love146 and Tiny Hands International, slavery is flourishing today. Unfortunately, it’s also thriving in the production of chocolate. In a post called Chocolate: the industry’s hidden truth (and the easy stuff we can do to still enjoy it), the author Tsh shares that “The far majority of chocolate is in our stores because of forced child labor.”

My 11 year old daughter actually started researching this with me. It’s kind of ironic because she’s the age of the girls sold to the cocoa farms. Girls are typically 11-12; boys 12-14. Kind of changes the way we see trick-or-treaters.

Fortunately, there are lots of ways to buy ethically produced, slave-free chocolate. Some of the simple ways are to look for the “Fair Trade” or “Rain Forest Alliance” labels. These systems aren’t perfect, especially because they are often expensive for farmers qualify for. But it’s a start.

Making our voice heard

Voting with our wallets is definitely a place to start. But we can do a lot more. Nonprofit organizations like STOP THE TRAFFIK have ways to tell the big manufacturers to stick with ethical practices. On their chocolate page, they say:

Since 2006 STOP THE TRAFFIK’s campaign message hasn’t changed. We want ingredients like violence and exploitation taken out of the chocolate.

And they’ve seen some change. They say top five manufacturers–Verkade, Swiss Noir, Cadbury, Nestlé and Mars–are now creating some chocolate bars certified as slave-free.

But that means the typical chocolate we get still isn’t.

Join the Thunderclap

One easy way to help raise awareness is to join STOP THE TRAFFIK’s Thunderclap. If they reach their Thunderclap goal by October 18, hundreds of us will simultaneously have a tweet, Facebook post, or Tumblr post posted encouraging Toblerone maker Mondelez asking when Toblerone will be traffik free.

Get educated

You can learn more about the awful statistics about child slavery in the chocolate industry by watching the documentary The Dark Side of Chocolate.

The BBC also did a series exposing traffiking. Here’s the first of that series:

Tell Social Media Explorer about My Donation for Aggregated Reporting Purposes Here

Read more about Social Media Explorer’s #GivingTuesday program.

The post Stop The Traffik – #GivingTuesday appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

This morning on Twitter was the first time I had ever heard of Charitybuzz and thus I wanted to share it with all of you. This was the tweet that got my attention.

Auctioning off tickets to my #HeidiHalloween party to benefit @UNICEFUSA on @charitybuzz. Find out more here: http://t.co/aFrAZ9M7lo
— Heidi Klum (@heidiklum) October 8, 2013

I mainly clicked because I was curious to see what her costume was going to be, but once that was revealed I decided to spend some time on the site seeing what else they had going on.

At Charitybuzz their philosophy is simple:

“We give our community of bidders exclusive opportunities to live their dreams and make a difference through incredible online charity auctions.”

Right now they have everything from training with a Navy Seal team, to being a character in a James Patterson novel and even a signed iMac covered in A-List autographs.

Charities, perhaps you should connect with Charitybuzz to make some magic happen.

If anyone reading this has used them before in any capacity, we’d love to hear your story.

The post Charitybuzz – #GivingTuesday appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

This week is different. This week’s featured group asks for giving expertise and time.

Whether you call it a makerspace, hackerspace, a backspace, or a hacklab, around the country libraries and communities are pulling together resources to make it easy for people to create. The flexible term allows for activities as varied as soldering circuits or welding metal and computer programming or wood carving. These community workshops are popping up across the country, bringing together skills and tools for people who might not have access to them otherwise.

Some Makerspaces are even offering affordable access to 3-D printers.

Find one near you or start your own

The folks at Makerspace are pulling together a worldwide directory of Makerspaces. While their list is impressive, getting a directory for a grassroots movements is never easy. So if one isn’t listed near you, be sure to do a Google search. Many, like the group in Maine, are blogging about their process as they look to start these spaces.

In true creative fashion, the Makerspace site offers a free Makerspace Playbook to guide you through the process of starting one in your community!

Learn more

We often hear both about the “digital divide” and about the low number of people going into traditional trades. Makerspaces seem a perfect bridge between the two.

As a fundraising coach, I’m surprised to not see any way to give money through the Makerspace site! Apparently that option is left up to the local groups. (To give to the Maine Makerspace, go to http://mainemakerspace.com/contribute/.)

You can learn more about Makerspaces at http://makerspace.com/home-page.

And before you go, check out this great video of Mythbuster’s Adam Savage talking about “Why We Make” at last year’s Maker Faire.

Tell Social Media Explorer about My Donation for Aggregated Reporting Purposes Here

Read more about Social Media Explorer’s #GivingTuesday program.

The post Makerspace – #GivingTuesday appeared first on Social Media Explorer.