Microsoft, we thought you learned your lesson from the from the failure of Bing Cashback. It looks like we were wrong.
Earlier today, Microsoft launched Bing Rewards, a new program that lets users earn credits for performing actions like searching on
Of course, there’s a catch — you have to download the “Bing Bar” (it’s a toolbar for
Overall, Bing Rewards is exactly like any loyalty rewards program you’ve used via your credit card or at your favorite store. Buy more stuff and complete certain tasks, and you get some miniscule reward. The program is clearly the successor to Bing Cashback, the now-defunct rewards program that gave you money for buying products through the Bing search engine. Cashback’s termination was announced in June, and it officially closed on July 30.
We were hoping that Cashback would be the end of Microsoft trying to (directly) buy users, but it looks like that was hoping for too much. While the program seems like a decent enough concept, we just don’t think people treat search like they do their credit cards. Are thousands or millions of people really going to switch from
Microsoft, you’re wasting time, energy and resources on this rewards program. Awesome new features are going to help you win the search war, not Bing points and gift cards.
Disclosure: Microsoft is a
For more Tech coverage:
Fundraising is a key component for most social good campaigns and projects. Thanks to the the Internet and the social web, raising money for a non-profit, community project or charitable organization or relief effort is easier than ever before.
The web makes it possible to get your message across and collect money from people all over the world and to include your social graph in the process.
If you have an idea or a cause that you want to bring awareness to and raise funds around, there are lots of great online tools to help get you started. Whether you want to raise money for a local community center or help fundraise as part of a broader social good campaign, these tools make it easy to get the word out and collect the funds you need.
1. FirstGiving
The U.S. subsidiary of JustGiving.com, FirstGiving lets users raise money for any non-profit in the GuideStar database.
It’s free to create a basic account, but if you pay $300 you can fully customize your donations page and link them back to your own website. FirstGiving lets you create fundraising around upcoming events, marathons and walk-a-thons too, which is a nice touch. The processing fee for donation is 5% plus another 2% for credit card transactions.
2. Crowdrise
We mentioned Crowdrise in a recent post about alternatives to Facebook Causes and it is a great tool for both charities and general purpose fundraisers.
Once you start a project, you can share your project’s link via Facebook
3. Kickstarter
Kickstarter is most often used by aspiring creatives to fund projects but it can also be used for great effect for local social good community efforts.
Kickstarter is unique in that if your goal amount isn’t reached, none of the money is collected. This “all-or-nothing” approach often leads to Kickstarter campaigns being more active and more involved than a traditional “donate widget.”
A great part of Kickstarter for the social fund creator is the ability to reward donors at certain levels. Much like PBS and NPR offer trinkets if you give a certain amount, Kickstarter lets its project creators do the same thing. You can get really creative with your different donor levels to drive people to give more.
4. WhatGives
WhatGives offers a great widget you can use on Facebook or on your personal webpage to collect donations for your non-profit. WhatGives is nice because aside from integrating well with Facebook, all donations are handled through PayPal.
You need to be a registered non-profit with an approved PayPal account, and all donations are channeled directly into that account. You can customize the platform and embed it as a Facebook app or on your blog or website.
5. Change.org
Change.org lets users create programs to generate actions from others. This can be as simple as signing a petition or writing a letter, or as generous as donating money. For non-profits in the GuideStar database, you can create your own donation pages to collect funds and also draw attention to other action items.
Change.org is very focused on making it easy to virally spread a message, and the site itself also acts as a portal to different organizations and awareness campaigns.
6. Chipin
Chipin is one of the most popular donation widget tools on the web and it’s a great way to collect money for a good cause. We love the Chipin widget because you can see instant progress on donations, and it accepts many forms of payment.
Unlike many of the services on this list, Chipin isn’t just for non-profits or community organizations. You can use it for any project you want.
7. Razoo
Razoo has options for individuals, non-profits, foundations and corporations to raise money for their causes. Individuals can choose to create a fundraising page for any registered non-profit that Razoo recognizes (they have a database of about a million) and non-profits can create custom pages for their organizations and connect with supporters and encourage them to create their own fundraising pages.
What we love about Razoo, in addition to its simple interface and great UI, is that it also offers donation matching for corporations or foundations looking for an easy way to raise money.
8. Convio
Convio offers software for online fundraising and membership, and while its target audience is probably bigger groups or organizations, it’s still worth a look.
For example, Convio’s TeamRaiser lets organizations make it easy for volunteers to create their own websites for tracking and attracting donations.
If you’re organizing a social good fund for a big charity walk or event where volunteers go door-to-door to get donations, check out Convio because it makes managing that process much easier.
9. Facebook Causes
Causes is an increasingly common way for individuals to raise money and start their own funds that are tied to a non-profit. Because Causes is so well-integrated into Facebook, it makes getting the word out and raising awareness and funds for your cause that much simpler.
10. StayClassy
A newer player in the arena of online giving, San Diego’s StayClassy is focused not just on helping non-profits collect donations online, but also manage events and campaigns, track their fundraising results and plug-in.
The world of online fundraising is vast and diverse. What tools have you used when starting your own social good funds? Let us know in the comments.
Brought to you by theThis post was brought to you by the groundbreaking Social Good Summit. On September 20, as global leaders head to New York for United Nations Week — including a historic summit on global issues known as the “Millennium Development Goals” (MDGs) and the annual General Assembly — Mashable, 92nd Street Y and the UN Foundation will bring together leaders from the digital industry, policy and media worlds to focus on how technology and social networks can play a leading role in addressing the world’s most intractable problems.
Date: Monday, September 20, 2010
Image courtesy of iStockphoto
For more Social Good coverage:
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Microsoft, we thought you learned your lesson from the from the failure of Bing Cashback. It looks like we were wrong.
Earlier today, Microsoft launched Bing Rewards, a new program that lets users earn credits for performing actions like searching on
Of course, there’s a catch — you have to download the “Bing Bar” (it’s a toolbar for
Overall, Bing Rewards is exactly like any loyalty rewards program you’ve used via your credit card or at your favorite store. Buy more stuff and complete certain tasks, and you get some miniscule reward. The program is clearly the successor to Bing Cashback, the now-defunct rewards program that gave you money for buying products through the Bing search engine. Cashback’s termination was announced in June, and it officially closed on July 30.
We were hoping that Cashback would be the end of Microsoft trying to (directly) buy users, but it looks like that was hoping for too much. While the program seems like a decent enough concept, we just don’t think people treat search like they do their credit cards. Are thousands or millions of people really going to switch from
Microsoft, you’re wasting time, energy and resources on this rewards program. Awesome new features are going to help you win the search war, not Bing points and gift cards.
Disclosure: Microsoft is a
For more Tech coverage:
Fundraising is a key component for most social good campaigns and projects. Thanks to the the Internet and the social web, raising money for a non-profit, community project or charitable organization or relief effort is easier than ever before.
The web makes it possible to get your message across and collect money from people all over the world and to include your social graph in the process.
If you have an idea or a cause that you want to bring awareness to and raise funds around, there are lots of great online tools to help get you started. Whether you want to raise money for a local community center or help fundraise as part of a broader social good campaign, these tools make it easy to get the word out and collect the funds you need.
1. FirstGiving
The U.S. subsidiary of JustGiving.com, FirstGiving lets users raise money for any non-profit in the GuideStar database.
It’s free to create a basic account, but if you pay $300 you can fully customize your donations page and link them back to your own website. FirstGiving lets you create fundraising around upcoming events, marathons and walk-a-thons too, which is a nice touch. The processing fee for donation is 5% plus another 2% for credit card transactions.
2. Crowdrise
We mentioned Crowdrise in a recent post about alternatives to Facebook Causes and it is a great tool for both charities and general purpose fundraisers.
Once you start a project, you can share your project’s link via Facebook
3. Kickstarter
Kickstarter is most often used by aspiring creatives to fund projects but it can also be used for great effect for local social good community efforts.
Kickstarter is unique in that if your goal amount isn’t reached, none of the money is collected. This “all-or-nothing” approach often leads to Kickstarter campaigns being more active and more involved than a traditional “donate widget.”
A great part of Kickstarter for the social fund creator is the ability to reward donors at certain levels. Much like PBS and NPR offer trinkets if you give a certain amount, Kickstarter lets its project creators do the same thing. You can get really creative with your different donor levels to drive people to give more.
4. WhatGives
WhatGives offers a great widget you can use on Facebook or on your personal webpage to collect donations for your non-profit. WhatGives is nice because aside from integrating well with Facebook, all donations are handled through PayPal.
You need to be a registered non-profit with an approved PayPal account, and all donations are channeled directly into that account. You can customize the platform and embed it as a Facebook app or on your blog or website.
5. Change.org
Change.org lets users create programs to generate actions from others. This can be as simple as signing a petition or writing a letter, or as generous as donating money. For non-profits in the GuideStar database, you can create your own donation pages to collect funds and also draw attention to other action items.
Change.org is very focused on making it easy to virally spread a message, and the site itself also acts as a portal to different organizations and awareness campaigns.
6. Chipin
Chipin is one of the most popular donation widget tools on the web and it’s a great way to collect money for a good cause. We love the Chipin widget because you can see instant progress on donations, and it accepts many forms of payment.
Unlike many of the services on this list, Chipin isn’t just for non-profits or community organizations. You can use it for any project you want.
7. Razoo
Razoo has options for individuals, non-profits, foundations and corporations to raise money for their causes. Individuals can choose to create a fundraising page for any registered non-profit that Razoo recognizes (they have a database of about a million) and non-profits can create custom pages for their organizations and connect with supporters and encourage them to create their own fundraising pages.
What we love about Razoo, in addition to its simple interface and great UI, is that it also offers donation matching for corporations or foundations looking for an easy way to raise money.
8. Convio
Convio offers software for online fundraising and membership, and while its target audience is probably bigger groups or organizations, it’s still worth a look.
For example, Convio’s TeamRaiser lets organizations make it easy for volunteers to create their own websites for tracking and attracting donations.
If you’re organizing a social good fund for a big charity walk or event where volunteers go door-to-door to get donations, check out Convio because it makes managing that process much easier.
9. Facebook Causes
Causes is an increasingly common way for individuals to raise money and start their own funds that are tied to a non-profit. Because Causes is so well-integrated into Facebook, it makes getting the word out and raising awareness and funds for your cause that much simpler.
10. StayClassy
A newer player in the arena of online giving, San Diego’s StayClassy is focused not just on helping non-profits collect donations online, but also manage events and campaigns, track their fundraising results and plug-in.
The world of online fundraising is vast and diverse. What tools have you used when starting your own social good funds? Let us know in the comments.
Brought to you by theThis post was brought to you by the groundbreaking Social Good Summit. On September 20, as global leaders head to New York for United Nations Week — including a historic summit on global issues known as the “Millennium Development Goals” (MDGs) and the annual General Assembly — Mashable, 92nd Street Y and the UN Foundation will bring together leaders from the digital industry, policy and media worlds to focus on how technology and social networks can play a leading role in addressing the world’s most intractable problems.
Date: Monday, September 20, 2010
Image courtesy of iStockphoto
For more Social Good coverage:
robert shumake
Pentax announces price and availibilty for 645D camera: Digital <b>...</b>
Pentax announces price and availibilty for 645D camera: Photokina 2010: Pentax has announced its 645D medium format digital camera will start shipping globally from December 2010. The camera will sell at a retail price of $9999.99 for ...
Breaking <b>News</b>: Eliza Dushku Has a 'Big Bang Theory'
'The Big Bang Theory' is no stranger to sexy sci-fi starlets, having scored geektastic cameos from Katee Sackhoff and Summer Glau in seasons past (wit.
Aaron Brown: Cable <b>News</b> Is Too Political
Aaron Brown said in an interview that he is unhappy with the current state of cable news. Brown, who was a prominent anchor on CNN from 2001-2005 and now teaches journalism at Arizona State University, spoke to the online website ...
robert shumake
Pentax announces price and availibilty for 645D camera: Digital <b>...</b>
Pentax announces price and availibilty for 645D camera: Photokina 2010: Pentax has announced its 645D medium format digital camera will start shipping globally from December 2010. The camera will sell at a retail price of $9999.99 for ...
Breaking <b>News</b>: Eliza Dushku Has a 'Big Bang Theory'
'The Big Bang Theory' is no stranger to sexy sci-fi starlets, having scored geektastic cameos from Katee Sackhoff and Summer Glau in seasons past (wit.
Aaron Brown: Cable <b>News</b> Is Too Political
Aaron Brown said in an interview that he is unhappy with the current state of cable news. Brown, who was a prominent anchor on CNN from 2001-2005 and now teaches journalism at Arizona State University, spoke to the online website ...
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