Robert’s talk is now ad free – time to give something to charity

The time has finally come for something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. No more ads on this web site! What I will have, though, is the possibility to give something to people in need.

Focusing on charities

It is all quite simple, actually. I have removed all ads on my web site, and instead replaced them with an opportunity to give money to people in need. I feel that if that the biggest problem we have in our lives is to make something work in a web browser, we’re so well off that the very least we can do is to give something back to people who are less fortunate.

There’s no trickery, and don’t worry, not a single cent will go to me. And I’m not under the impression that I’m Mother Teresa either, it’s just that a majority of us lead such good lives that the good thing, no, the only correct and sound thing is to do whatever we can to help out. There’s so much misery, pain and horrible things happening in this world, constantly, so a contribution, no matter how small, that helps to address that can be worth so much.

I know people have different values, so what I’ve tried to do here is to offer a number of different charities, hoping that at least one will suit your preferences. You also get the opportunity to display your or your company name in the donation list. The four offered are:

Reaching a goal

For each of the four charities mentioned above, I’ve set up a goal: to reach £100 for each of them within a year. Personally, I think (read: hope) that this will be a small feat. Given the number of readers I have, if you just look to yourself and just share something like £2 (the minimum donation amount), we will be there in no time.

Co-operating with Justgiving.com

First I contacted the major charity organizations to see what kind of donation account I could set up, and what information I could get about the donations (i.e. how much money has been given, how many donations has occurred for each cause etc). Unfortunately, none of them could offer this to me, which I find somewhat surprising.

Therefore, I searched high and low, asked around and eventually it led to Justgiving.com. I tested their service, and must say what I was, and still am, quite impressed. It’s very easy to set up donation pages, to follow-up the success of it, and, last but not least, very easy for anyone to donate money.

Donation fees

Let me be straight up front about this. Justgiving charges a 5% fee for their service and making sure the donation goes well. In my book, it’s a small percentage to pay for a great service, and it’s just a tad more than any regular credit card fee is.

An upside of it, too, is that if you’re a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you, meaning that for a £10 donation, the charity will receive about £12! All thanks to Gift Aid.

A call to bloggers

This will probably be received as somewhat provocative, but seeing all the blogs in the world, littered with ads, PayPal buttons and its likes, I can’t help but wonder just about how much any of them could contribute. If you contribute otherwise, that’s just fine. If you’re poor and the ad income just goes to paying your web host and ISP, kudos for sharing.

But, if you’re like me, and I know for a fact, a lot of other bloggers, you do make a decent amount in your day job. And if you make ends meet, can care for your families and have a balanced environment, please just consider giving money to a charity. I mean, after all, we don’t really need a third iPod, another flat screen or that classy but oh-so-expensive couch. If I can forsake my ad incomes, I’m sure you can too (or hey, at least cut down on them).

Would you please consider contributing?

As long as out living standards are decent, let us instead try and help people who are starving, being abused, raped, abandoned. Let us focus on preserving nature before we just become extinct, just out of our ignorance.

Let’s be generous. Humble. Kind. Caring.

Thank you!

18 Comments

  • […] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThe time has finally come for something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. No more ads on this web site! What I will have, though, is the possibility to give something to people in need. … […]

  • Hey, what about UNICEF? 😉

  • […] Robert s talk is now ad free – time to give something to charityIf you re poor and the ad income just goes to paying your web host and ISP, kudos for sharing. But, if you re like me, and I know for a fact, a lot of other bloggers, you do make a decent amount in your day job. … […]

  • Good on you mate.

    I actually just recently asked myself whether adverts are neseccary or not and I would have to say that this would be the best idea for adverts yet. Lets hope that people follow suit, I guess another way to do this is that you could sign the ad account into their name rather than yours..

    btw just for the record, the text box to write comments is now only 20 odd characters long in case its a mistake.

  • Pat says:

    It's a good concept Robert. Were you making money on your google ads? You don't have to answer, but perhaps instead you could of kept your ads, yet noted all money raised from your ads goes to charity? I can only assume it's easier for some one to give by just clicking and not going through any additional hassles. If you know what I mean?

    I myself donate regulary to all causes I believe in, even the guy sitting in front of the store looking stoned 🙁

    Best of luck with that, and good on you for including WWF!! 🙂

  • Robert Nyman says:

    Joel,

    That was some interesting self-promotion. 🙂

    But sure, money to UNICEF is a good thing too.

    Jermayn,

    Yes, I sincerely hope others will be inspired by this, I think it's the way for us to go.

    Oh, and the textbox is fixed now, it was a minor typo…

    Pat,

    Yes, I did make money on my ads. 🙂

    I did consider that alternative, to keep the ads and then contribute the profits. However, it all came down to credibility. How would people know that the money really was given to charity?

    So, therefore I decided it's better for people to get the possibility themselves to contribute directly. And once you've made a contribution, you have an account, and it's very easy to contribute again, if you want to. 🙂

    WWF: ha ha! 🙂

  • Yeah it is more credible to have the charity businesses listed instead of you claiming to give to them..

  • Deborah says:

    Robert,

    I applaud your efforts and I think it's wonderful you've set this up with JustGiving. For the nonprofit websites I work with, I've recommended Network for Good as well as PayPal's donation services. I haven't looked at JustGiving for a couple years, will need to look at it again.

    Just something to pass along – this past week I learned about Kiva, which is not a donation service, rather a nonprofit providing the opportunity for people to loan money to an entrepreneur in a developing country. The funds are used for starting or improving their small business, such as a bicycle repair shop, store, or farm. The amount loaned can be as little as $25 (US dollars).

    The personal stories about the business owners and the email journals about their business appeal to me, making it more personal.

  • Seyora says:

    Came here via one of your css articles and saw the charity banner. =) I admire your goodwill.

  • I think it would be interesting to periodically post the total amount of money given. People might feel more comfortable giving knowing that the project is a success.

  • Robert Nyman says:

    Deborah,

    Thank you!

    Also, thanks for the tips, it's always good to know about different options and angles.

    Seyora,

    Thanks!

    Jason,

    Absolutely! I can say that as of now, while everyone agrees it's a good idea, there has been only one single donation, being £20 from Carl.

    So, as soon as people get over the initial step and actually start donating, I will definitely post updates. I mean, basically everyone can spare £2, right?

    I'm also playing with the idea of posting a list of people who has given money, with links to them as a thanks.

  • Pat says:

    <blockquote cite="Robert">WWF: ha ha! Did I spell it wrong? I don't get it 🙁 It's late here, time for me to sleep I think.

    Yes, while I agree people *may think* you're not donating ad proceeds, another idea would have been to show them you are donating your earnings through justgiving 🙂 Just throwing the ball around! No criticism intended at all!!

    I applaud your efforts Robert! I hope you reach your target(s) and beyond 🙂

  • Robert Nyman says:

    Pat,

    Nah, sorry. I thought you made a reference to the World Wrestling Federation.

    And yes, absolutely, that might be one way of doing it. Personally, I hope it will work out the way it is now, but if not, an alternative is definitely bringing back ads (consider this a threat 🙂 ) and then explicitly telling that all the proceeds will go to charity.

  • I have all Google adverts blocked by default anyway. You can always give to one of my favourite charities as seen in my URL. This month we helped raise approx. £6000 for another local charity.

  • Pat says:

    Oh hehe 🙂 I may be a girl but I still know it's WWE 😀

  • Robert Nyman says:

    Robert Wellock,

    That's great! 🙂

    Pat,

    Ah, good. It was just an unfair assumption on my side, sorry. 🙂

  • Sandra Holmes says:

    I want to ask for your directives and understanding of my intentions, i am a fresh school living certificate holder and i want to futher my education. And also to work for your reputable organisation.

    I have spoken with my sponsor and he is ready to talk to you and to see what he can do. I have the zeal to work in any humanitarian organisation and to learn and futher in that area. And to assist financially in anyway possible, How can i donate my quater to these organisation???

    Hope to read from you. you can reach me on these email:sandraholmes2007@yahoo.com

    Sandra

  • […] it’s one month since the launch of my charity initiative. The turnout-out hasn’t really been what I hoped for, and here are […]

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