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Volunteerism spikes among Americans
Thursday October 29 2009
Here at Elizabethtown College, the motto is “educate for service,” meaning that it is important to Etown students to give back to the community in any way. There is a whole world out there that needs help, but is it realistic to think that students can make a difference outside of their tiny community between classes, homework and occasional recreational activities? Wouldn't it be nice to find a way to improve the world without taking away what little free time available in our hectic lives? People say that some things are as easy as clicking a button, but there is no way making a difference in the world could be that simple, right? Well, it is, according to the new charity Web site, BettertheWorld.com (www.bettertheworld.com/home). This Web site was launched Feb. 12, 2009 by the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. The major idea behind the Web site is that raising money for charities really can be as simple as clicking a button, or, as they put it, “Raise money for your cause by simply surfing the Web.”
It is free to join Better the World, and there are currently 5,294 members from Canada, the United States and other countries. According to a table on the home page of the site reading “our impact so far,” Better the World has worked with 115 projects and has thus far raised $7,762.
So how does it work? Once a member of Better the World, one only has to choose a charity to support, download the Better the World tools, and then proceed to surf the Web as usual. The Better the World tools are Sidebar & Blog Widgets for bloggers or a standard sidebar that seamlessly integrates into the Microsoft Internet System, Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, so downloading the tools is simple and manageable. Once the sidebar is set up, money is raised when members view socially — and environmentally-conscious advertisements on the sidebar. But these ads are not pop ups that will trash your computer.
Each time a member views such an ad, its respective company will donate to a charity. There are several different types of ads that will appear, such as promotions for corporations, social products and services that are selected by members’ interests (judged by the charities for which members chose to raise money) and ads that are not for profit, which align with and support values of the members. The bottom line is this: the more ads clicked, the more money raised for the chosen charity.
According to Better the World, a recent survey by Giving & Volunteering reported that 71 percent of people who did not give to charities said that the only reason they did not donate more was because they could not afford it. However, with Better the World, people who want to make a difference can do so without feeling guilty that they can’t give more money. On the Web site, there is no cost to their charity partners, and the fundraising is monitored by their supporters.
Better the World is an easy way for everyone, including busy college students, to help charities because it allows people to raise money for their chosen charity while surfing the Internet. There are several organizations that members can choose to support through Better the World, and there are currently 12 charity partners working with Better the World as well as 28 different causes that members can support. Some of these causes include 5 Days for The Homeless, Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research, the Children’s Miracle Network, Habitat for Humanity, Trickle UP, the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, The United Way, War Child, World Wildlife Fund, TakingITGlobal and many more.
Better the World also offers the option for its members to donate money directly by contributing to charity projects. Some examples of these projects include War Child's opportunity for members to buy one shovel, one spade and one digger for a school-building site, or Lewa Wildlife Conservancy’s opportunity for members to buy 20 tins of milk to feed an orphaned rhino for a month.
Whether a member raises money through surfing the Web or by directly donating money or time to charity projects, BettertheWorld.com provides ways for people to make a difference in their community the world. Better the World is an innovative way for people to raise money, but just how much money goes directly to charity? Charities directly receive 90 percent of funds raised by members, with only 10 percent going to the actual Web site. According to Kristen Petri for Better the World, the 10 percent is used to “pay our staff, keep lights on, etc.”
Petri reported that their Web site would love the support of students here at Etown and that there are several projects that she thought would interest students. After all, here at Etown, service is valued, and Better the World shows us that providing service for others really is as easy as clicking a button.
TOP 10 VOLUNTOURISM OPPORTUNTIEIS
1) i-to-i
2) Voluntourism.com
3) Cheaptickets.com with the United Way
4) Sierra Club
5) International Volunteer Program Association
6) Volunteerabroad.com
7) United Nation’s World Volunteer Web
8) Earthwatch Institute
9) responsibletravel.com
10) CIEE
Compiled from about.com.
The Etownian >> News