4 Easy (and Free) Ways to Donate

Studies show charitable giving fell in 2010. A casualty of the recession, I suppose. So to encourage charity, here are four easy ways to give back without necessarily having to write a check.

Donate while you shop – for no extra charge: At GoodShop.org, the online shopping mall donates a percentage of every purchase from more than 700 stores to your favorite charity. Whether you use it to buy a book from Amazon, cosmetics from Sephora or a plasma TV from Best Buy, you pay the same price, but a percentage (it varies between .5% and 9% depending on the store) is designated for the charity of your choice.

Donate while you search: Similarly, at search engine GoodSearch.com, as you search for holiday recipes and gifts this winter, you could be raising funds for your favorite charity at zero cost to you. GoodSearch is a Yahoo powered search engine that donates a penny per search to your favorite cause. And the pennies add up – just 500 people searching four times a day raises about $7,000 a year.

Transfer Card Points to Charity: At the end of the year, take a look at how many points your credit card has earned. You can pretty much do anything you like with the points including buying gift cards for family and friends as gifts, shopping for yourself or giving to your favorite charity. Not only will this be like a free charitable donation, you can still get the tax write-off so you can get a bigger tax refund.

Buy Charitable Stamps. Your holiday cards can serve as donation vehicles. Certain holiday stamps purchased through the United States Postal Service are dedicated to charitable causes. Visit USPS.com.

Photo courtesy: Monica's Dad's Photostream on Flickr