hands charity givingWe here at Urlesque save a special place in our hearts for photoshop memes or a good cat video, but we're also softies for nerdy do-gooders -- the same folks behind an inspiring new web trend: charity sites using social media for good.

Everything from putting web power behind supporting the arts to making charitable donations fun and accessible, the following sites are setting a new standard for web-based philanthropy.

Take it from us, web trends may come and go, but doing good never goes out of style!




  • Social Media for Social Change (SM4SC)'s mission statement is simple: "take all the connections made through social media, and put them together to host first-class fundraising events happen 'in real life.'" The now extensive network was started as a single blog post by founder, Gradon Tripp, back in 2008. And in the spirit of social media, SM4SC's strength is in aggregation and promotion -- being a one-stop info source for events ranging from karaoke-for-charity to roundtable discussions with nonprofit professionals, like SocialChangeCamp. Follow SM4SC on Twitter.


  • Goods 4 Good's mission is to collect surplus goods and distribute them to children in need in Africa's poorest nations. Taking an innovative approach to outreach, Goods 4 Good has a communications board comprised entirely of "new media influentials." Members of the board were recruited via open calls on Twitter and Tumblr and the group meets regularly to help plan events and find new ways to raise donations online. Another key element is the organization's involvement across various platforms -- the group has won Tumblr's "reblog for a cause" contest twice, in which the charity that gets the most reblogs on a particular post in the Tumblr community wins a certain amount in donations. The group is also in the process of working with the creators of social media game Foursquare to develop Goods 4 Good badges. The group also hosts regular "new media events" to help get the word out and raise funds. Follow Goods4Good on Twitter.





  • Charitini is a simple fundraising concept championed by journalist and new media "it-girl," Rachel Sklar. Noticing that New York's new media scene was overflowing with cocktail events and bar meet-ups, she challenged folks to take the money they would normally put toward drinks and give it to a charity instead. The result taps social media platforms like Twitter and Tumblr to promote an event, such as a birthday, and allows guests to provide a donation to the host's preferred charity. Follow Charitini on Twitter.




  • Kickstarter takes the DIY spirit to the 2.0 age. The site is an easy-to-use, free portal for project-based microdonations. This means that a visitor has the freedom to donate anything from $1 to $5000 and donations directly fund a project rather than an organization, so you know exactly how your donation is being used -- plus you have an end product to show for it. Because the organization is still rather new, the ability to start a project is by invitation only, though this may change as the platform grows. This model levels the playing field for artists and creators of all kinds and its straightforward set of guidelines eliminates much of the red tape behind other avenues for artist funding. Follow Kickstarter on Twitter.


  • Epic Change is founded on a 3-step process: 1) provide interest-free loans to local partners to finance their community improvement efforts through donations, 2) Facilitate loan repayment by collaborating with partners to share their stories through projects that generate income, 3) "Pay it forward" by recycling repaid loans to help fund Epic Change in other communities. The group is well connected via various social networking platforms (Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) and consistently creates innovative fundraising activities to tap those very avenues. A prime example is Tweetsgiving: a project designed to "demonstrate the power of twitter and the social web by spreading gratitude and raising $10,000 in 48 hours to build a classroom at the school in Tanzania." Follow Epic Change on Twitter.





  • Blogging for a Cause is a campaign started by Zemanta (a point-and-click enrichment tool for bloggers and professionals) in partnership with Social Actions (an initiative that aggregates civic causes from more than 50 databases). The result is a downloadable "tool that recommends charitable causes to bloggers while they write." The concept garnered a 2nd place finish in the Change The Web Challenge and is a part of Zemanta's many efforts to use social media for change.