Charities raise money unconventionally with alternative search engine GoodSearch
Instead of using Google or Yahoo!, students can help a charitable cause while doing their last-minute research on the Internet by using GoodSearch.com.
Developed in 2005 by MSNBC anchor JJ Ramberg and her brother Ken, GoodSearch donates a penny to the charity of each user’s choice every time he or she searches.
Yahoo! powers the search engine.
‘Because of the economy, charities are seeing a decrease in donations this year and an increase in need,’ Ramberg said.
The idea of GoodSearch came about by looking at the billions of dollars search engines like Google or Yahoo! generate, and conceiving a way to use that money for charity, Ramberg said.
There’s no charge to use GoodSearch. Funds come from advertiser revenues.
Early in its development, GoodSearch was used for a Pennsylvania State University dance marathon, Ramberg said.
‘It really caught on with the students at Penn State,’ she said. ‘Since then we’ve seen this really take off with schools. What this has really turned into is a movement on college campuses. Students are saying ‘Why wouldn’t I do this? I care about Sudan; I care about the environment. Why wouldn’t I do this? It doesn’t cost me anything.”
Ramberg noted the influence of students using Facebook and MySpace to link to GoodSearch.
At Syracuse University, the John Dau Sudan Foundation, a non-profit humanitarian organization, has teamed up with the site and plans on promoting its use throughout the semester.
Katelyn Hancock, assistant to the president of the foundation, said they hope to create a whole grassroots movement to get students using GoodSearch.
‘It’s a great way for us to tell our donors, ‘Hey, you don’t have to write us a donation but you can also help on a daily basis, and raise money just by doing your daily routine,” she said.
In addition to using GoodSearch, online shoppers can use the newly launched GoodShop.com. Up to 37 percent of each purchase goes to the chosen charity. GoodShop is partnered with companies like Amazon, eBay, Half.com, iTunes, Orbitz and Target.
Students use a search engine or shop online several times each day, Hancock said. Using the site is a way to give back even if students don’t have money to donate to their favorite charities.
The Maxwell Citizen Education Learning Community is spreading the word about GoodSearch to the SU community in order to help the John Dau Sudan Foundation, Hancock said.
Published on September 8, 2008 at 12:00 pm
