I am going to continue on the theme of giving back with this post. One of the difficulties about giving back is determining how much to give. Now that is a relevant topic, but one I am not going to currently discuss. Believe it or not, one way to give more to your favorite organization is just to do what you normally do.

Confused? Using Amazon smile or Goodshop (part of Goodsearch) allows part of your purchase to go to a cause of your choosing. Admittedly, it is a small percentage. Amazon Smile is 0.5% at this time, but Goodsearch reports it can be up to 30% depending on the merchant. Even if the percentage is small, a big purchase, repeated purchases, or small purchases from many different people can add up over time. If a thousand people purchase a $1000 worth of merchandise each through Amazon smile, that would ultimately net $10,000. While I do not envision that I am a big spender, I think even I have racked up at least that much on amazon over the years (over a $1,000 not $10,000).

This 0.5% percentage or whatever percentage you are earning does not get added onto your bill. You pay exactly the same amount of money but by going through a portal or signing up for Amazon smile a percentage is diverted to a cause of your choosing. When I say portal, I just mean doing your shopping through the site rather than doing your shopping through Google or some other site.

Another strategy that could donate money to a charity by doing something you already do is Goodsearch. By simply searching the web (again through their portal), your cause will be given money. The more you search, the more you make money for your beneficiary. It is a modest amount, but again even these modest amounts add up over time.

So now there is no excuse for not giving back. It is money that you would not have seen anyway, so we might as well go the extra click or two to help out others.

Hope that helps,

Steve