I am a search engine junkie. I conduct at least 20 searches every day, and some days, it’s a lot more. And I’ve just found a way to make my searches raise money for my favorite non-profit organizations. “Good Search” is a Yahoo-powered search engine that donates a penny from every search you conduct to a charity of your choice.

Good Search is the brainchild of brother and sister Ken and JJ Ramberg. The Rambergs developed Good Search in an effort to shift some of the $8 billion in search engine advertising revenue to charities in need.

The search function works exactly the same way any other search engine works. But, before you begin, you select a charity from the thousands of approved non-profit organizations. Search away, knowing that 50% of the advertising revenue generated by your search goes directly to the charity you selected.

According to a chart on the Good Search website, they estimate that charities with at least 100 supporters who each conduct 2 searches daily can generate $730 per year in donations. That’s a lot of money to a small, struggling charity. It all seems so easy, too, much like FreeRice.com, and the other sites that donate money or in-kind products or services to charities just for clicking on ads.

Once you know about Good Search, why wouldn’t you use the site to make a difference?

Thankfully, Good Search makes it very easy for charities to participate in its program – they don’t have to pay a cent to become an approved charity. In addition to charitable organizations, schools can also be part of the Good Search program. If you have several charities you support, you can change your selected charity before each search. And you can check out how much your organization has earned through Good Search. For instance, I search for the American Red Cross. Since it joined Good Search in 2007, it has earned nearly $1,400.

Three years after Good Search came on the scene, the Rambergs created a sister site known as “GoodShop.” GoodShop is an internet shopping mall that donates a percentage of purchases to charity. The donation varies, but can go as high as 20%. 1-800-Flowers gives 7% of purchases, while iTunes gives 2.5%. Check out the site to see how much each store donates.

Giving to charity is sure getting easier and easier to do. When it’s this easy, how could you not participate? So, do what I did – get searching and start giving.

GoodSearch
GoodShop

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