A new cell phone service carrier called GIV Mobile puts a twist on your monthly cell phones bill by offering to donate 8% of it to charities of your choosing from a list of national organizations.

This brings up two points. If you own a small business, you can gain a competitive edge by offering to donate to charity in return for customer loyalty. Also, by choosing well-known, national charity organization to donate to, your business may gain some press time as well as brand recognition just by associating with that well-known charity.

Photo Credit: GIV Mobile

Sometime overlooked because a charity organization may think it is too small to get any celebrity to auction off a lunch date or a meet and greet, but this strategy can have big pay off! Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, caused a stir when he auction off a chance to have coffee with him at Apple’s headquarter. Just one day after the auction went live; it has raised almost $200,000!

Take this lesson and bring it to scale for your organization. Asking a community leader (mayor, governor, etc.) or a popular local artist or activist to donate a couple hours of their time for an auction and you may be surprised by what you can raise.

As the tradition goes, when it starts to get sunny and warm, people clean out their house. Finding old tools, toys, and trinkets that people no longer need or have forgotten about may be the best time for you to hold a charity event!

If you know of a charity that needs used items or supplies, create an event around the spring cleaning theme. It can start small, like around your neighborhood, by asking people to keep an eye out as they clean for items like school supplies or gently used clothes. You can also make it bigger by centering it around a church or a community center and have people clean out their house and bring items in. In the end, people have a clean house and feel good about helping a charity!

Helping the less fortunate is a great way to give back to the community, but it can also be used to raise awareness to a new product or brand a company may have coming down the pipeline.  Case in point: the gaming giant Activision Blizzard recently donated $2 million to the Call of Duty Endowment which helps returning veterans find employment.

The charity is relevant to their Call of Duty games and they are getting a lot of press and attention for this, resulting in a chance to reinforce their gaming brand.  The lesson is, if you have a charity that aligns itself with a local company’s product or service, reach out and see if they would be interested in a partnership that will be mutually beneficial.

Every March 22 since 1993, the United Nations General Assembly has been observing World Water Day.  This year we would like to highlight two water charities that are making waves and keeping water clean for everyone!

Chesapeake Bay Trust

This charity, local to TAN, has a four-star rating from CharityNavigator.org.  Its mission is to protect and preserve the United States’ largest estuary through a variety of different programs from planting native plants to environmental education.  Learn more about Chesapeake Bay Trust by going to www.cbtrust.org.

charity: water

For a focus on providing water to people in developing countries, we take a look at charity: water.  Started by Scott Harrison, this charity aims to spend 100% of public funding on projects such as building wells and restoring structures in developing countries to provide clean water.  Learn more about charity: water by going to www.charitywater.org.

A school district in Chicago, Illinois caused quite a stir when the two schools that belong to it each raise over a $100,000 dollars for their charity drives. The lesson that School District 113 taught everyone is that the more people and businesses you include in your charity event the more ownership and spirit you will get, which in turns equals to more contributions both in time and money.

So ask more people and businesses in your local community for help, not just for a donation. Giving them a task or a project will help them feel more involved and included, which will have a ripple effect. And the more publicity your event gets, the more successful it may be.

Holding charity events around a holiday is popular because everyone is in a festive mood. When people are celebrating and having fun, giving back comes easily – keep this in mind the next time your charity organization wants to hold an event.

Here are some examples of charity events around the country on St. Patrick’s Day.

In Elizabethtown, PA hundreds of people brave the cold for a charity run to support a local church.

In Seattle, WA thousands also brave the cold, running to support local children charities.

In Aspen, CO, the longest-standing charity event returns with a church holding a dinner with funds going back into the community to help the less fortunate.