Give a microdonation to your favorite charity

Making microdonations on the Web is a little harder than it once was. Many of the services I would have included in this roundup have shuttered in the past year. In fact, there are just a handful of viable such services left.

Regardless, each of the services listed below will help you connect with the charitable organization (or person) you care about most. You can choose a cause, decide how much to donate, and you're done. It's a really simple process. And if you're in the mood to share, it should be a rewarding one.

Get giving

#BeatCancer Although the #BeatCancer initiative that asked for users to include the hash tag in their tweets to raise cash for cancer awareness is over, the organization's site still allows users to make donations to four different cancer organizations. They include organizations dedicated to breast cancer awareness, childhood cancer, an organization dedicated to better research, and a group that provides support for cancer patients.

You can use the site to donate whatever you'd like to any of the organizations. You can also get the word out about the organizations by clicking on the "spread the word" option in each donation widget. Upon doing so, your Twitter account will be populated with a link for others to donate to the same organization. It's a convenient way to be social and contribute to the fight against cancer.

#BeatCancer allows you to fight cancer.

(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

ChipIn ChipIn is a fine way to start raising money for the charity you care about. It also provides an easy way to get all your social-networking friends to dole out some cash.

When you get to ChipIn, you'll need to input the cause you're trying to raise money for. You can also input how much cash you want to raise over the term of the fundraiser. From there, you need to input your PayPal account. It works well, but it's the social element that might help most. With the help of ChipIn's Facebook widget, you can put your donation box in front of all your friends. You can also add plug-ins to your Web site. Overall, ChipIn makes it quite convenient to make and receive microdonations.

ChipIn will help you raise cash for things you care about.

(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

DonorsChoose DonorsChoose is perhaps one of the finest charitable ideas in this roundup. And it works quite well.

In essence, DonorsChoose allows you to connect with school children, using whatever extra cash you have to help them in their educational endeavors. The site asks for teachers or schools to submit a charitable request. It can range from computers in the classroom to buying books that the school district can't afford. A required amount is added to the description. From there, users can make micropayments to give those schools what they need. Users can see how many students it would reach, how close the class is to their goal, and much more. Payments are made through DonorsChoose's payment system. It's a really neat site.

DonorsChoose helps you help children.

(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Pledgie Pledgie is a rather interesting site. You can either create your own donation drive or pledge some cash to some of the drives already on the site.

One of the first things you'll notice about Pledgie is that it isn't a very well trafficked site. The vast majority of pledges contain few (if any) donations. That might want you to turn to another service, like ChipIn, that will help you get in front of your friends more effectively.

If not, Pledgie still provides some value. You can create your pledge, enter a description, add an image, and input the kind of help you need. When someone donates, the cash comes out of their PayPal account and goes into yours. Pledgie never touches the money. I should note that Pledgie adds some social flavor to its site by allowing users to tweet about the charitable campaign. It also has widgets you can add to your site. Pledgie isn't the best service in this roundup, but it isn't bad either.

Pledgie helps you find what you care about.

(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

SocialVibe SocialVibe takes the idea of charitable donations and mixes it up a bit by requiring you to engage in certain activities so sponsors will donate more cash to the cause you care about.

The site features everything from smiling for a photo to getting your friends on social networks to help you perform various tasks. When you complete an activity, you receive donation credits that you can give to the charitable organizations that you care most about. I was really impressed by both the activities and the number of charities on the site. SocialVibe is a neat idea that adds an element of fun that many of these services don't. Try it out.

SocialVibe helps you find the organizations you care about.

(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

My top 3

1. SocialVibe: Adding an element of activity to charitable donations is quite appealing.

2. DonorsChoose: There's something awfully rewarding about helping school children.

3. ChipIn: ChipIn is a fine way to donate cash with the charities you care most about.

[i_love_cows]

This one is cool!

http://cows.chipin.com

[magicmaster]

Uh?

How about give my five cents? (wink)

[hellochip]

How to you spell fraud?

What verification is there that the money actually goes to the cause cited?

And remember, just because it is a donation does not mean it is tax-deductable (donations to schools)
And there is no requirement that the organization be not-for-profit
And there is no restriction on how much of a donation is used for the actual cause vice expenses.

[joemarcheseSV]

Thanks for the kind words Don. If you liked SocialVibe yesterday, you are going to love it today (big release last night to improve all the case and profile pages). And much more to come.

Thanks again. Really appreciate your support and hope to keep living up to it.