Sponsored: Goodgames: Play Games and Earn Donations!

(I am writing this post as an entry into a giveaway sponsored by Goodgames.org.  All opinions are mine, and I am not being compensated in any other way.)

I have to admit that I don't get much of a chance to play online games--I just don't have time.  But I think I just might have to make an exception.  Have you ever heard of Goodgames.org?  It is a site where you can play all the fun games that you like, and while you're "wasting" your time, you can earn money for nonprofit organizations!  There are 109,000 organizations from which to choose, and you get to choose!   Play any of the games that you are used to:  solitaire, Klondike, Mahjongg Dimensions, and more.  With over 113 million Americans playing online games for around 50 million hours of games PER DAY, Goodgames could actually  raise over $1 billion per year for these wonderful organizations!

Their parent company, goodsearch, has already donated nearly $10 million to various causes all over the nation.  Users search, shop online, dine out, and take surveys.  All of these activities earn money to donate to nonprofit causes.

Be sure to check both sites out today!

Charity Hopping Around the World Giveaway Hop (Ends 4/4)

Welcome to the Charity Hopping Around the World Giveaway Hop

March 30th to April 4th

Hosted by:
I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
Reading Away the Days
Reading a Little Bit of Everything

Purpose: To promote a charity that you support.

Charities are something that are close to my heart.  I have supported several over the years, and I decided that I am going to spotlight the one that I support on a monthly basis.

A few years ago, as I was trying to get my finances in order, God impressed me to support a child through World Vision on a monthly basis.  If you do not know about World Vision, let me fill you in.

Signing up to sponsor a child is such an easy process.  And you feel really good about it.  I involved my daughter in it, and we decided to find a girl who has the same birthday as us.  (My daughter and I share a birthday.  I know, now you can say, "That is so cool."  Actually, yes it is!)  And we did.  And she was also from the area that we wanted to support--Eastern Europe.  As we have followed her, it has been so neat to see our sponsored child, Megi, grow up, go to school, and learn about God.

About a year or so later, God impressed me yet again to support another child.  And God led me to pick a boy from Africa.  This boy didn't go to school, and he lived in a really bad area.  I was so excited to finally see him going to school and truly growing into a nice, young man.

World Vision is an organization that is local to me (Federal Way, Washington--yay!), and it only takes a small amount each month to support a child.  Depending on the area, it can be $30 or $35 per month.  You can set it up to be drawn out of your bank account or charged to your credit card automatically.  Amazingly, I hardly notice the $65 each month.

Oh, and the neat thing is that you hear from your child now and then.  You also get to send them Christmas cards/gifts and other holidays throughout the year.  You get a yearly report.  World Vision makes it so easy to make a difference in our world.

In addition to supporting children on a monthly basis, you can send a one-time gift towards various countries and relief efforts.  I have to admit that I love doing that.  In the past, I have sent a portion of my income tax return funds to them.

So now to my giveaway.  One person will win a $10 gift to World Vision and an inspirational book of your choice $10 or less.  Entering is very simple--use the rafflecopter form--and the giveaway is open worldwide. Be sure to enter by 9 P.M. Pacific Time on April 4.  And don't forget to check out all the other blogs to learn about more charities and the chance to win even more giveaways.

Six Things to Consider When Donating a Gift Card

I came across this information today when I was looking through my e-mails, and I thought it might be something to share with you, my wonderful readers.  I have never considered donating gift cards to charity.  I thought I would pass it along to you.  As it says on the bottom, please feel free to pass it along as long as you  give proper attribution.  Enjoy!

The season of giving isn't quite over, as Americans make last-minute deductible donations to a wide variety of non-profits. Unwanted gift cards received during the holidays have happily emerged as a popular contribution, and for good reason.

According to the National Federation of Retailers, eight in 10 consumers bought at least one gift card this year, for what BigResearch estimates is a total of $27.8 billion in sales during the holiday season. Naturally, not all those cards aren't exactly well matched to the recipients, which means a lot of plastic goes unused; thus the trend towards donating unwanted gift cards.

Before you contribute your card, however, here are six caveats to consider.

1. How Much Are You Actually Donating?
What percentage of your gift card will be directed towards the charity's stated purpose and how much towards overhead? Ascertaining this fact may require reading the fine print or contacting the non-profit directly.

2. What is the Minimum Balance You Can Donate?
Some charities will accept any balance, but others don't want the hassle of processing a card that's worth less than $10 or $20.

3. How Will the Charity Use Your Donation?
Gift cards sometimes end up being given directly to the charities clientele, while other non-profits resell the card for a percentage of the face value and use the cash.

4. Should You Simply Resell the Card Yourself?
Not many non-profits accept gift cards, but there's a way you can still make hay out of this sunshine. You can exchange your gift card for cash on such websites as GiftCardGranny.com, then donate the proceeds directly to your preferred recipient.

5. Would the Charity Prefer You Donate Purchased Items?
Check with the non-profit to see if they would rather you purchase groceries, clothing, etc. and donate these items, instead of the cards or cash. If your gift card comes from a merchant selling products the charity doesn't need, some stores allow you to exchange gift cards for those from another store. Look for a kiosk near the cash registers that contains a variety of cards from different merchants.

6. Can You Donate the Gift Card to a Silent Auction?
One way to make sure cash goes directly to a non-profit is to contribute your card as a biddable item for a silent auction. If the buyers are feeling charitable, the non-profit might end up with more than the value of the card.

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Andrea Woroch is a consumer and money-saving expert and has been featured among top news outlets such as Good Morning America, NBC's Today, MSNBC, New York Times, Kiplinger Personal Finance, CNNMoney and many more. She is available for in-studio, satellite or skype interviews and to write guest posts or articles.

For all media inquiries please contact Andrea Woroch at 970-672-6085 or emailandrea@kinoliinc.com.

Feel free to share "6 Things to Consider When Donating Gift Cards to Charity" with your audience, giving proper attribution to the source.