If you’re on a very tight budget, it make seem impossible to make a difference in the world with no extra money to spare. But, much in the same way that you can use your frugal skills to reduce your spending and come up with clever solutions to financial problems, you can use those same skills to give back, even if your budget allows no wiggle room whatsoever. Here are 3 ways you can help others without spending a dime:
1. Click to donate. The Hunger Site is an innovative site that uses advertiser funding to benefit those in need. By clicking on the “Click to give” button once per day, you are taken to a page of advertisers that sponsor the site; the revenue from these advertisers is then donated directly to charity. As of this writing, The Hunger Site has given 745,818,023 cups of food since June 1999. They have several partner sites – The Rainforest Site, The Breast Cancer Site, The Child Health Site, The Animal Rescue Site, and The Literacy Site, which also which run off the same premise. By making a few clicks per day, you can donate a cup of food, 11.4 square feet of rainforest habitat, a free mammogram, and so on.
Many other sites utilize this concept to raise money for worthy causes also. Freerice.com is a unique, fun word game that uses sponsor advertising to fund 10 grains of rice donated through the World Food Programme for each answer you get right.
Also, I recently teamed up with P&G over on Contest Corner for their GIVE HEALTH program. If you click here and then click the donate button on my widget, P&G will donate one day’s worth of clean water to a person in need. If you’re a blogger, you can also apply to be a P&G GIVE HEALTH Blogger by clicking here.
I know there are many great sites like these that I’m missing, so please feel free to leave me links to your favorites in the comments!
2. Share your stockpile. You may not have any cash to spare, but if you clip coupons, you’ve probably hit some good sales where you were able to stock up on items for free. Food banks always need donations – and if you don’t have any extra food, remember that many food banks will also take toiletries and cleaning supplies. Shelters for the homeless, victims of domestic violence, and other similar organizations can also use these donations.
3. Volunteer. Donating your time costs nothing out of pocket, and can make a big difference. Perhaps you want to do something with a local organization – sites like Volunteer Match can help you find the right opportunity. Or maybe you’d like to do something creative and raise awareness and funds through your social networks or blog. It could even be something as simple as taking a casserole over to a neighbor who’s having a hard time.
In the past, I’ve felt limited by lack of time or extra money – if I couldn’t spend 30 hours volunteering or donate huge chunks of money to charity, it felt pointless. But making a difference isn’t about being in a special position – if all you have is 5 minutes to lend a hand, it means something. When I think about the scale of the world’s problems, I often feel like nothing I do could make enough of an impact. Then I remember that you can give a child one year worth of clean water for less than the price of a movie ticket, and feed someone with a simple click. I cannot change the world, but I can change one person’s world.
I know there are lots of other unique, creative ways to give back on a budget – and I would love to hear them, so please feel free to share in the comments!
Hi! First, thanks so much for re-tweeting my sale at Scribbleprints!
This is a great article. Love the hunger site. I’ve also bought gifts through The Hunger Site Store. They are really good quality and really not any more expensive than what you’ld find at the mall.
Know of some other sites like The Hunger Site…though that’s the best one I know of (some of the others, though they are good intentioned, are not able to get the advertising they need so don’t really earn as much…but here’s my list anyhow: http://www.windhavenweb.com/donatefree.html
Also, there are fun games you can play that earn money for charity. Same idea as The Hunger Site–ads pay the donation. My favorites are http://www.gamesthatgive.com, http://www.freerice.com and http://www.freepoverty.com.
You can shorten your URL for twitter and earn money for charity at http://s4c.in/
You can send expired coupons to military families overseas: http://www.themommytrade.com/tricks-of-the-trade/expired-coupons/ (they can use them for a certain amount of time after they expire)
You can shop for Christmas gifts at places where a percentage of the profits go to charity. I have a list of places at http://www.squidoo.com/shop4charity
Be careful to be frugal even when shopping at places that donate. Don’t buy something you wouldn’t buy otherwise, and don’t buy something if it seems like it’s overpriced and you don’t know how much exactly is going to charity.
Anyways…those are my giving tips!
We go through our old toys, before Christmas and give to the kids in need!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Beeb Ashcroft, Kim Delatorre. Kim Delatorre said: RT @hardertobreathe Giving Back on a Budget http://bit.ly/cKrASy […]
Clear the clutter in your home. What seems like an old bath towel to you could be considered a brand new towel to someone else. Likewise t-shirts, curtains, cookbooks, pots and pans. Extra freebies from your stockpile. Any item that use to be useful to you before it was delegated to the far depths of your closets.
I have never heard of the hunger site…off to check it out now! Great, great post and thanks for sharing!
Awesome ideas, guys! Thanks so much for sharing!
[…] out to those who are not as fortunate. I recently wrote an article on Super Coupon Girl called “Giving Back on a Budget”, where I talked about simple ways that you can help others even if you have no money to spare. […]
[…] delivered to children in Africa, and I have written several other times about ways to help provide food and water for the needy; so whenever an opportunity arises to benefit an organization that works […]
Sending text messages or calilng at the wheel is not only very dangerous but also not responsible for other lives and himself.Anyone that has such a bad habit should be punished badly,I think.
Well, I have some doubt as to whether or not English can help one make more money.In Africa, and for that Ghana foapmrxele English is the official language.But most teachers of the language themselves are stil struggling with grammatical structures.Finally what we see in country is Big Englis’ and unnecessary boastfulness over who speaks better than the other,probably who can release a lot 0f’ Big words’ Look at a man taking pride in using a foreign language which he is not conversant with.I do not know of other countries but in Ghana teaching is not lucrative and until heavens intervene so shall it be!