Firstly it is important that you build a good contact list of like-minded individuals who may be interested in donating to your cause. The easiest way to build up a mailing list is through Social Networking websites such as Care2 , Facebook , Greenopolis , Helpalot and the like. You will need to be an active member of these sites. Fill out your profile, join groups, get involved in discussions and mention your cause at every opportunity, search member profiles for other people who may be likely to support your cause.

Once you have started to build a contact list, there are all sorts of fantastic tools on the internet to help you launch your fundraising drive. Here is a list (by no means exhaustive) and short description of just some of them to get you started.

Facebook has a great application called Causes. If your cause is an charity registered in the USA you can add it to the application and recruit your Facebook friends to get involved. If its not, then you can use related causes to draw people's attention to it.

SixDegrees.org allows you to create a badge to raise awareness (and donations) for any of about a million charities and place it anywhere online - your Facebook profile, your blog, your website . . .

ChipIn.com is a similar concept only you can use their widget to raise funds for any cause you like - from saving the rainforest to realising your dream wedding. You can embed the ChipIn Widget on your website or create your own Chipin page at your name.chipin.com.

PeerDreams.com , Fundable.com , DropCash.com , PledgePage.org and FundraiseOnline.co.nz are all similar sites that let you set up and promote a fundraising campaign for your cause .

Pledgebank.com is a great site designed to help people get things done - especially things that require the efforts of more than one person. How It works is that you make a pledge, set some sort of target and get people to commit to your pledge. You get a free pledge page and help with promotion.

'Click to Donate' is an easy way to raise funds for your organisation. People are always more excited about donating when they don't have to actually front up with the cash!! Avanoo.com offers exactly that - a way for your non-profit to have its own FREE click to donate button splashed around the internet. Simply register with them, get your supporters to add your badge to their website, blog, or social media profile and reap the benefits.

All the best for your online fundraising efforts!

Tonight, a fellow Yuwie Yuwie friend told me about it and I decided to immediately check it out. While currently I don't have enough money to give to charities, this does not mean that by simple efforts, I can't help various important social causes. I thought it wouldn't hurt to see what it was all about.

It is a completely free of charge program. This, of course, was music to my ears. By simply signing up for SocialVibe and taking about 10-15 minutes to answer questions like, what is your favorite music, you can become sponsored by your favorite brands. They also give you the option to choose the cause you feel most passionately about. I choose education as my cause and Victoria Secret as my sponsor. Within minutes, by signing up, I had raised $1, 745 for my cause! I was completely stunned!

Because of the incredible results, I thought, I wonder if I can be sponsored by more than one brand? So I investigated this possibility.

I choose Nike. After answering about 5 more minutes of questions, like magic, I had another sponsor! I thought well, why not try another? You never know what you can come up with if you don't try. But, it appears that you can only be sponsored by two brands. I guess there had to be a limit somewhere in their program!

Now, the next step is to embed the html code for your brand's logo on your MySpace or Yuwie  page, or whatever social networking site you choose to.

SocialVibe rewards you for keeping their logo up for a certain amount of days with points that can be used for various items they specify. For me this part wasn't as big of an incentive as knowing that I can be raising important funds, just by promoting my favorite brands. It's a win-win situation for everyone and I'm always up for such opportunities. Just knowing that about 10-20 minutes of my time raised almost 2k for an important cause opened my eyes to the fact that there is so much we can do to better this world that, in the busy rush of our days; there are opportunities that are creative and convenient.

So remember everyone - take care of yourself and each other. Best wishes to all.

Have a good vocabulary? Want to put it to good use? And no, being a jerk to your friends is not putting it to could use. I'm talking about FreeRice a site where you play a vocab game, and the more you score the more rice you donate. Now you can brag to friends about what a good person you are.

Kiva

Ever heard of Kiva? Chances are if you watch Oprah you have (and who doesn't watch Oprah!) Kiva is a site where you can loan money to the poverty stricken and entrepreneurs in a third world country who in turn lift themselves out of poverty with their business. The entrepreneurs then pay you more money in return allowing you to loan more money to another business, and the cycle continues. Go to this site, make Oprah happy.

The Rain Forest Site

Are you lazy? Do you care about the environment? You can't possibly help the environment without thinking or moving more then a few muscles Riight. Wrong! That's the kind of thinking that got us all into this mess. At the rain forest site you can click the button on this site and donate money its that simple. How can they do this you ask. The answer my friend is ads. Of all the click to donate sites. My favorite: Click the button, Make Al Gore Happy.

Dmoz

Are you forgetful? Be honest you are aren't you. Don't be ashamed so was I. But don't let it get in the way of your clicking buttons to donate to charities you care about. This site will send you an email that will remind you to go to those site and click the buttons. Happy Clicking!

Twood.Tripod

This site is the largest directory of click to donate sites I could find ranging from save the bats to build a school. This directory is the lazy humanitarians dream.

Volunteer match

You want to help; you want to join a charity, because you're such a great person, but all the charities are in California. My answer to that is you really need to get out of the basement and visit this site. Type in your zip code and behold---many charities you thought were just in California are also right next door.

Charity Navigator

Cant find charities you like? I know its hard but you cannot give in. You must continue your quest. I have a gift to aid you, called Charity Navigator. Search for any type of charity you want with this helpful site.

Shop Goodwill

Are you a shopaholic? The first step is admitting you have a problem is going to shopgoodwill.com, a site where you can buy items from jewels and gemstones to Guitar Hero 3. And the proceeds go to a charity. Put your addiction to good use go to this site.

Sage Fundraising Software

Maybe you want to start your own Charity from scratch but don't know where to start, well this site is for you from here you can download a software that will track donations and donors. ( I don't think My new Car fund is a charity)

World Peace Campaign

Put to depressing music? You can tell this site is about world peace even with your eyes closed. This site's goal is to recruit as many people as possible into the movement of world peace. Don't delay, join the movement today!

Here are a few valuable links that I actually use:

1. Havaria Information Service

   We only hear about a few weather or environmental disaster events around the world but if you tune into this link from Hungary, you get it all. What makes it cool is that they have maps that are interactive and the links listed below the map allow you to view the area in question via Google Earth. I love this site!

2. WWITV

   Ever want to watch TV stations in other countries? This next site is definitely for you. Stake out more than 10 minutes to review this site because there's a lot there. They list 2708 online TV stations which should keep you busy for awhile. They also have other links which can be interesting too. Highly recommended.

3. Fuel Economy

   This link is one that I use all the time, and if you're going to be buying a car anytime soon, you'll definitely want this link. I use this site whenever I get to thinking about a new or used car. It's saved me lots of money, because I've been buying far more fuel efficient vehicles recently. Great Site!

4. KIVA Organization

   I had heard about micro-finance from a news story, and that story led me to this next website, which I think is pretty cool. This is a terrific way to do something for someone else who could use the money you might spend on a bottle of wine, to build a business in another country. Currently loans are limited to $25.00 per person. This is just a great site and it gives you a real pleasure to watch people work their way into a good life.

5. Belarc Advisors

   This next site will appeal to you computer geeks. Belarc Advisors allows you download a program to your computer so that you can upgrade your machine properly.

6. Lulu

   I really like this next site. Lulu is a self publishing site and it has a lot of traffic. You can buy stuff, publish stuff and you can sell stuff too. It is really easy to use this site, and if you have a book of photos something similar, it makes it a snap to publish it and distribute it worldwide through their site.

7. E-Podunk

   I discovered this site while I was researching an article on small towns. What a great site for finding out (for example), where are the biggest communities of Apaches or of Armenians. E-Podunk profiles small communities. This is really a fun site. Once you explore it a bit, you'll find it indispensable, especially if you are a writer.

8. Artbyus

   If you're an artist or an art buyer, you'll really love this site. Artbyus carries a wide variety of art, and if you're an artist they don't charge any listing fees (They do charge for premium placement though). There is some very good art on this site from many countries and they do seem to sell a fair number of pieces.

9. CPU Upgrades

   This is a great site if you want to upgrade your CPU. This site isn't “polished” or designer perfect, but it is a very useful site. This site tells you which CPU to use with which motherboard. That's pretty critical information if you want to upgrade. Excellent!

10. Animated Knots

    This link is one that I only use occasionally, but frankly it's invaluable for times when I need it. This site will teach you to tie knots. Ever since viewing the movie Jaws, I've wanted to be able to tie a variety of knots. This site works. I rate it A.