The Globe & Mail newspaper has been running a series on giving over the last few weeks. It’s an excellent series worth reading. One of the interesting catch phrases they have used is ”The New Philanthropy.” After giving back everyday for 365 days I can tell you that be a philanthropist is no longer just the rich giving large sums of money to the charity of their choice. It is every day people giving in small ways when they can with their time, crowdfunding a personal favourite cause or “texting” donation for disaster relief. We have learned that even $10 can make a multi million dollar difference if we all give together.

Wikipedia defines philanthropy perfectly in today’s society:

“Philanthropy etymologically means “the love of humanity“—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of “what it is to be human,” or “human potential.” In modern practical terms, it is “private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of life“

I’m not an expert on giving / philanthropy by any means. I don’t have millions of dollars to give through a foundation nor do I have hours to volunteer or travel to remote parts of the world to save lives. But what I do have is a little time everyday to “love humanity,” Whether it is a person, an animal or the planet we can all be philanthropist. Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada posed a question this week on Facebook that you should answer.

“If you had 1 hour to help change the world what would you do?”

I want to help you discover the “new philanthropist” in yourself. I discovered so many ways to give that I never even consider or new existed during my 365 days of giving. Many of them do not even cost a dime. All you have to do is like, tweet or click and you can show your “love for humanity”. Social media has given us all the opportunity to be a philanthropist. Find your favourite medium whether is be Twitter, Facebook or just using the internet. We can all give a minute of our time to change the world.

The 365give Top 5 Ways to Give for Free

Click it for Good: This site is the creation of Jan van Voorst (Founder Planetsave.com news/ co-founder of Planetsave.) The site is grass-roots and user friendly. It allows you to help causes that support the planet without emptying your pocket but instead by spreading the word.  All you have to do is click a button and share a post with your friends and you have made a donation. Sponsors make the donation for you! (Day 317)

JustCoz: This platform that enables charities, non-profits and NGOs to greatly increase their social media reach by way of tweet and status donations. Building on what is known as the “donation by action” paradigm, the bring forward the utilization of social power into the realm of passion. JustCoz enables people to make a difference by exposing their audience to messages which reflect their owns set of values and truths, and everything is done automatically, without the need to repeatedly engage in sorting through messages for those worth repeating. (Day 283)

The JustCoz Effect

Care2: This will allow you to become a 365 day giver. Care2 has a “daily action” that with just a click you can change the world. They refer to it as the “fast, easy and free way to make a difference everyday. (Day 289)

Freerice: A great way to teach your kids about philanthropy and they will learn along the way. It’s a bit like online trivial pursuit game that feeds the hungry around the world. For each answer you get right Freerice donates 10 grains of rice to the World Food Programme to help end hunger. (Day 31)

The Hunger Site: Whether you have a passion for helping feed the hungry, breast cancer, Rainforests, animals, child health, literacy, veterans, or autism you can give right from this site. You don’t need to be on Facebook or Twitter you can just click to give. Choose you passion and click every day. (Day 321)

Now we have no excuse not to give. Free and fast. Forget an hour our of your day in just 30 seconds you can give. 

Do you have a favourite site you like to give by clicking? Which one of these is your favourite? Your feedback and comments are valuable to 365give. The more we can inspire others to give and share opinions and views on giving the more we can change the world one give at a time.

For daily philanthropic news and views follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Let’s change the world together.

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