Give as You Live

The week before last I was kindly invited by the lovely Rhamnousia to an awareness event, which turned out to be for a thought-provoking and interesting project. Give As You Live is a way to give to charity simply by shopping online. Click-through advertising has been used for a while to benefit charitable causes, but with Give As You Live, the amounts donated by companies are linked to what you spend, and as a result are much more substantial. The company has raised over £2million for charitable causes to date, though Polly Gowers and her team are aiming for £120million - the amount it is predicted that will be spent online in the UK this Christmas alone.

What's really impressive is the wide range of retailers the Give As You Live team have got on board. Pretty much everyone from Amazon to Topshop and so many more, are participating and will donate to the cause of your choice if you spend money with them online. It works on the same principle as some other online points or rewards systems, but there's a neat addition in the shape of a downloadable Everyclick app that syncs with your browser, collecting money for the cause of your choice as you spend online without you having to even click through anything (I don't know about you, but I often forget to go on rewards sites before ordering stuff, only to kick myself afterwards!)

I'm just about to place a mammoth order with Amazon including the Kindle I've agonised over for so long, as well as most of my Christmas shopping, and I'm hoping it will raise a good sum for my charity of choice, which is Marie Curie Cancer Care, who offered my dad and my whole family so much support during his illness. But you can choose from any one of the many, many charities registered with the Charity Commission in the UK - including lots of smaller charities who do amazing work and would be really benefited by donations.

It's really a fantastic social business model that's really making a difference, and at this time of year, when we're all much spending so much anyway, I'd urge you to have a look, register, and pick a charity to support. The URL:

http://www.giveasyoulive.com/