Wow, this is not for the feint of heart! Raise $1000 for Special Olympics Hawaii and you’ll be able to rappel over the edge of Waikiki’s tallest building, landing at the Edge of Waikiki which is the Sheraton Waikiki’s new adult infinity pool and bar. Crazy huh? The Over the Edge of Waikiki event takes places on November 13th, 2009 at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. You need to be 18 and less than 300lbs. to participate.

Contact info:
Kyle Karioka
Special Olympics Hawaii
PO Box 3295
Honolulu, HI 96801
Fax: (808) 943-8814
E-mail: KyleK@specialolympicshawaii.org

Here’s a link to the form. Sign up today if interested since its a limited opportunity.

Per Brittany Harrison from Stand Up To Cancer:

It’s hard to even find a $5 lunch these days, but we want to let people know that even those $5 can help end cancer. I’m Brittany, and I work with Stand Up To Cancer. Today we launched a new campaign that I think your audience can embrace. Meryl Streep is teaming up with SU2C to get 10,000 $5 donations from September 2 – October 2. Check out this widget to hear from Meryl herself: http://www.standup2cancer.org/su2c/five.

During the month of September, we’re asking the question: “What would you give up to end cancer?” As Meryl points out, for the cost of a coffee or a magazine, you can make a huge difference in the fight against cancer. We’d really appreciate if you could post the widget on your blog to let everyone know how easy it is to join the fight against cancer – even if you don’t post to your blog, feel free to share with your family and friends! This donation widget lets you donate $5 to SU2C and can be added to blogs and websites (embed code below) or it can be shared via Facebook and other social networks (click on the yellow SHARE button on the widget).

As I was checking for the recommended time between Brita filter changes I came across an exciting program for recycling your used filters.

Brita is teaming up with Preserve and their Gimme 5 program. Preserve is recycling the plastic filter casings for use in their eco-friendly, 100% recycled toothbrushes, cups, and cutting boards. They don’t mention what happens to the carbon other than it will be regenerated for alternate use or converted into energy.

Gimme 5 is a program by Preserve to recycle No. 5 polypropylene plastic which is the primary material in the filters. The reason this program is needed is because most local/municipal collection programs don’t accept this type of plastic.

The program is easy, you can either drop them off at their drop-off locations (here’s a list) or you can mail them in. They give instructions on the program here.

The Tap Project is about providing clean, safe water to children.

Some facts:

• Just $1 can provide a child safe drinking water for 40 days.
• Waterborne illness is the 2nd largest killer of children under 5.

More about the Tap Project:

“In 2007, the Tap Project was born in New York City based on a simple, tangible and easy-to-implement concept: restaurants would ask their patrons to donate $1 or more for the tap water they usually enjoy for free, and all funds raised would support UNICEF’s efforts to bring clean and accessible water to millions of children around the world.”

So, get involved, get active. Follow them on Twitter, spread the word, volunteer, etc.

Top Five Ways to Give Online (courtesy of replyforall)

5. Give Your Name. Signing petitions to Senators or foreign diplomats may seem like it won’t make a difference, but sometimes just a collection of people taking a stand has real power. Just look at Amnesty International’s track record. They’ve been relying on your names to help repeal laws, obtain stays of execution, and secure the release of hundreds of prisoners in foreign countries. Sign Amnesty’s petition to free US journalists Laura and Euna.

4. Micro-Volunteer. You don’t need money to give time, and now with companies like The Extraordinaries, you don’t really need that much time, either. Just download one of their phone apps, and you can volunteer with those ten minutes you’re waiting at the doctor’s office. You can help translate a nonprofit page into a foreign language, fact check for reporters, review congressional bills, even tag images for the Smithsonian. So you can do what you can, when you can, and still make a difference.

3. “Friend-raise”. Social networking is a great way to keep in touch with friends, acquaintances, and family members. And now, it’s a great way to raise awareness about your favorite nonprofit or cause. Over 26 million people actively use the Causes application on Facebook, and influence others to join their cause. You can support your cause by merely inviting your friends to join or posting your charitable actions in your status message.

2. Transform your search engine. We’ve ushered in a new age of technology, relying on search engines for answers from the momentous to the mundane. Why not fight desertification, global warming, and habitat loss at the same time? Don’t just search, Ecosearch. Ecosearch is a search engine that uses Yahoo technology and helps reforesting trees and safeguard water resources in the Amazon region, which constitute today one fourth of the fresh water reserves of our planet.

For every 10,000 searches, Ecosearch and Aquaverde (their nonprofit partner) plant a tree in the Amazon and in the Canary Islands. The website even keeps a running count of how many trees have been planted and how many more searches are needed to plant another tree.

1. Donate your email. What better way to make a donation than to have someone else pay for it? replyforall is a free cause email signature that is automatically inserted into your outgoing email messages. You choose your cause, personalize the information to appear in the signature, and you’re all set! replyforall then shares the advertising revenue with its nonprofit partners allowing you to donate without cash. Now you can raise awareness, drive donations for your cause of choice and monitor your impact all by doing what you do everyday – email.

Wow, great news from DonorsChoose.org. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund 50% of any classroom project request that preps students in rural and high-poverty schools for college. The catch is that the rest needs to be funded purely by citizens like us. 50%! That’s pretty damn amazing.

Things we can fund are college prep books, science equipment, etc. School is starting up soon (or just started as is the case for my daughter’s kindergarten class). Let’s fund some projects!

Watch a video featuring Stephen Colbert to learn more.

Thanks goes out to Matt for another great suggestion. Thanks Matt!
This time its Small Can Be Big, an organization that takes 100% of every donation and applies it to a specific expense or urgent bill to help a family in need and keep them from homelessness.
They do a way better job of explaining the process on this page. But the gist is:

This is where you come in. When you lend your support to a family in need – whether it’s $3 or $300 – 100% of every penny you give goes directly toward addressing a specific family need. No middlemen. No hidden costs. No time wasted. Just an uplifting, tax-deductible gift that goes to a landlord, utility company or hospital awaiting payment.

This falls in line directly with the model of Skip a Lunch. Small donations that in masse can create change, help, or hope. Please check it out and in their words, “Help more directly, more personally, more locally, more shared.”

We’re featured in the list of 100 incredible philanthropy blogs under the “Individual Ways to Make a Difference” category (we’re number 21 in the list). Thanks Amber for the head’s up!

View the list here:
http://www.bible-college.net/index.php/100-incredible-philanthropy-blogs/

In 2007, Idol Gives Back, produced by the folks who bring viewers American Idol, brought in more than $75 million in charitable donations; in 2008, the amount raised exceeded that. A June 2008 New York Times article described the way in which individuals—particularly children and teens—were finding that the opportunity to donate $10 mosquito nets to protect African children from malaria was making charity “cool.” But it’s not always easy for people of various ages and backgrounds to make intelligent decisions about donating their time, talents, services, and goods, as well as money and assets, to meet their own giving goals while helping not-for-profit organizations achieve their visions. Add on the concern for avoiding scams and pitfalls and possible unhappy consequences caused by their good intentions, and it’s enough for people to keep their donations to themselves.

In The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Giving Back, readers learn to donate wisely by learning how not-for-profits work and donations are utilized, and the best ways to match their personal ideals, values, and giving goals with a group or cause that’s meaningful for them.

The book covers:

•The not-for-profit landscape—how to read an annual report, decipher tax forms, and the issue of paying for overhead
•Deciding what matters and translating priorities into giving back
•Giving back later—charitable bequests and charitable trusts
•Handling telephone solicitations and detecting scams
•What to do if you’ve been the victim of “charity fraud”
•New trends in giving—philanthropreneurship, giving with a willingness to tackle social problems, and addressing the unintended negative consequences of well-intended actions that cause problems for not-for-profits and the people they serve

About the Author:
Elizabeth Ziemba, J.D., MPH, who holds dual degrees in law and international public health, has spent the past five years as the founder and president of the not-for-profit organization SHARED, which is dedicated to improving access to medicines in developing countries. Ziemba has firsthand knowledge and experience of the world of not-for-profits and donations. With a keen understanding of how not-for-profits function and the impact donations have on operations, she has worked with individuals, businesses, foundations, and other not-for-profits that have donated time, services, and goods as well as cash and grants. Each donation has a generally positive but sometimes negative impact on the organization. Educating the donors and general public about donations is a part of her every day job description.

Ziemba’s training and experience as an attorney provide the knowledge required to navigate the complex regulatory world of not-for-profits, including the environment in which they must operate as well as the tax implications for donors. Her skill as an attorney enables her to translate complex legal issues for lay persons in a practical and clear way to foster informed decision-making.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Giving Back
ISBN: 9781592578948, July 2009, $14.95
Author: Elizabeth Ziemba, J.D., MPH

For a review copy or to arrange an interview with the author, please contact Wilks Communications at patty@wilkspr.com, or 708-434-5006.

View more Complete Idiot’s Guide titles at http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/cig/pdf/Alpha_2008Q4_Newsletter.pdf

On August 16th, Fresh Air Fund will be hosting their NYC Half-Marathon. Last year the NYC Half-Marathon was a huge success, raising $125,000 which goes to programs for NYC children.

Learn more here.

Since 1877, The Fresh Air Fund, a not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer experiences in the country to more than 1.7 million New York City children from disadvantaged communities. Each year, thousands of children visit volunteer host families in 13 states and Canada through the Friendly Town Program or attend Fresh Air Fund camps.