Do you "click" to help a cause?

[Violet]

Have you seen those free click-on buttons to feed the hungry or feed an animal, or fund free mammograms, or save our rainforests, etc.? Do you click on them? Do you think they help? They seem to help, as in the “give water” one: http://www.givewater.org/

[grimpixie]

I did some research and have found about a dozen that seem to be truly charitable (givewater was one) and support them daily. Or at least, if I remember, it depends how hectic the day gets…

Grim

[Martiju]

Yep - I’ve often wondered about the validity of them, but figure that it can’t do any harm…unless some Doper out there tells me otherwise?

[dantheman]

If I have time, I check up on them before I do anything. Last thing I want to do is click needlessly.

Seriously, though, I don’t want to be transported to some Web page that contains oodles and oodles of popup ads, thereby freezing my PC. And these are the more benign ones…

[The_Wrong_Girl]

I go to www.theanimalrescuesite.com first, and then do the rain forest and breast cancer ones, assuming that my day isn’t getting too crazy.

Also, I was convinced these sites were hoaxes at first, but snopes said that the first one (the hunger site) actually was real, so I assume the ones affiliated with that are, too.

[dantheman]

Some of them aren’t valid. There’s one going around about Avon donating money for breast-cancer research. One of the members at the message board I run emailed Avon about it, because when you clicked on the link you were taken to a page that had a Flash animation of a teddy bear - and nothing else. Here’s Avon’s reply:

The Hug a Bear campaign an initiative out of Avon Canada and was taken offline at the beginning of 2002. However, the flash animation was takenwithout permission and hosted at a different url (the one you named below). Avon Canada sent a lawyer’s letter asking them to remove it from the internet but as yet they haven’t received any word that they have done so.

Avon Canada is no longer giving 10¢ because it is not possible to
send the hug to anyone the way we designed it. All people are sending now is the url address to see the flash animation.

We thank you for your concern and for bringing this to our attention.

Teddi Jacobson
Planner, Avon Breast Cancer Crusade

Note: That’s Avon Canada, if it matters to anyone. So if you do get this particular email - click here and Avon will donate a 10c - please disregard it, for the above reasons.

[Scotticher]

I click on the hunger one every day. My employer, who is extremely cynical about things like this (maybe I should say skeptical, but he seems pretty cynical in his skepticism, if you know what I mean) says I am wasting my time, and none of those sites are valid.

I do it anyway, why not? Doesn’t cost me anything but time, and little to do if it helps someone in need.

They don’t do anything I consider annoying, either, but there ARE some online shopping sites you can link to from there who contribute to the project, and I shop there if I can. Again, why not?

[CanadianSue]

I click on the breast cancer site. I lost my mom to it and my sister is now dying from the disease. It’s something near and dear to my heart and if I can help in even the smallest way, well, nuff said.

[Scotticher]

I’m trying to remember to click on the breast cancer one, too. I got the link from Sue’s LJ, but it hasn’t become a habit yet. It will, though.