Quicken publisher Intuit introduced a completely free SMS based product in India named Fasal which is specifically targeted to helping farmers determine what to harvest when, and how much the going market price is. Without the benefit of refrigeration in India’s vast and poor agricultural areas a highly perishable crop such as figs can go from too green to eat to perfectly ripe to completely rotten in a matter of a few days.
The data exchanged through Fasal has helped more than half a million Indian farmers fine tune their agricultural procedures so that they can get their crop to the right market at the right time and get the best price for it. Bloggers can take a page from Intuit’s altruism to do good and benefit from an overall aura.
1. Align with a customized fundraising site
Bloggers are accustomed to driving traffic to their own blogs so it might sound like sacrilege to direct readers to external sites, but when it’s to URLs like crowdrise.com (an online fundraising platform) there’s a definite upside.
You can create your own fundraising pages on the site, select from over a million charities to determine which one you want your readers to support, and share all this information on your social network presence.
2. Assist a local cause
It’s easy to locate in your local area a cause you can help with, whether it’s serving meals to the homeless or holding a bake sale to get new equipment for the high school’s chem lab.
Local initiatives are far less complex to set up than any national appeals so you will be able to organize it all in your spare time with the help of friends and neighbors both on your social networks and face to face. You might not directly get more readers, but the halo of being a good citizen will pay clear dividends for your blog in the long run.
3. Raise funds for a worthwhile charity
There are very few activities that any blogger can participate in which provide such tangible benefits as being identified as a committed raiser of awareness and funds for a charity with a cause which resonates with your readers. Each blog is different and thus the non-profit organization you align with should be relevant to your field.
If your subject is pets, provide assistance to an animal rights or wildlife charity; if you deal with electronics, raise funds to help poverty-stricken Third World recycling workers who live in unbelievably toxic environments; and if your topic is food, adopt a child through a non-profit which provides nutrition in the world’s poorest areas.
4. Develop an app
You don’t have to write a smartphone blog to know that apps are hot, and the development of a specific, basic app is a possibility for any blogger… even if you don’t have a clue about programming.
There are many sites which allow you to contract freelance programmers around the world to work on a contract basis and you can get an reasonable app developed for pocket money. The app shouldn’t directly promote your blog but do some good for someone. Maybe set aside a penny for a charity each time an NFC payment is made, or show on a map where the nearest donation box for clothes and household effects is located.
5. Convert reader activities to $
A site called bettertheworld.com allows anyone to raise money for any given non-profit organization by simply downloading a sidebar and surfing the web. The bar displays relevant ads on the pages and each click puts much-needed cash into the charity’s coffers. Your blog readers and social media followers are navigating all over the web anyway, so why not help convert this activity to help a valid fundraising cause?
Doing good not only makes you feel good, but it helps your readers feel good about your blog as well. Bloggers everywhere are discovering the value of altruism. Will you be the next blog writing adopter of the philosophy of “doing good is good for everyone?”
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