By Amanda J. Ponzar

Just wanted to share a few interesting ways nonprofits are raising money:

Research for Good -- A friend of mine and true leader in this space, Ed Martin at Hershey, helped launch this so people can take market research surveys and, instead of being compensated for their time through incentives, donate to a worthy cause of their choice.

Not for Sale is asking people to help end slavery by donating stuff they don’t need for an online auction. 100% of the “Free2Sell” proceeds will be donated to the organization.

eBay’s Mission Fish provides a venue for individuals and companies to auction items for a good cause. In a few weeks United Way Worldwide  will once again be auctioning concert tickets, autographed basketballs and other cool items donated by UPS. (And if you don’t want to mess with an online auction, you can always call the Salvation Army truck  to pick up your closet cleanouts right where you live.)  

Love a Local Business –- The Samaritan Woman  (a DC-area nonprofit that fights human trafficking by supporting the women whose lives have been broken in the process) sent me this website so they can receive more votes in a raffle and get compensation assistance for an essential employee.

Of course, you’ll still get the charity emails, direct mails, phone calls, door-to-door solicitations, check-out clerk requests, cause marketing offers on product packaging, etc., etc. etc. (Remember my rule of thumb; never give over the phone as the telemarketer calling usually works for a company who is pocketing a significant portion of the donations.) But in the end, it doesn’t matter HOW you give or HOW much you give, just that you give what you can. As we’ve all known for a while, it really is better to give than to receive, and it’s great to see good causes finding innovative ways for people to do it.