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GoodSearch
GoodSearch is a Yahoo!-powered search engine that donates half of its revenue to a charity designated by the users. The exact amount varies based on advertiser prices, but the typical amount (and the amount used to estimate real-time results) is approximately a penny per search. Users can also shop through GoodSearch's GoodShop and contribute a percentage of the purchase to the designated charity. Organizations typically receive a check in December for the funds raised during GoodSearch's last fiscal year.
The Office of Letters and Light has been using GoodSearch since 2007 and has raised over $7200 through searches and shopping. Because using GoodSearch is easy and free, it is promoted during NaNoWriMo and Script Frenzy as an easy way for participants to support OLL when unable to do so financially.
In October 2010 GoodSearch held a contest promoting the download of the site's toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox with a prize of $100 to each of the first 100 organizations to reach 100 downloads and $1000 to the top five organizations. Leo Fair mentioned the contest in the All-Ages Coffee House on 3 October [1], which prompted Wrimos to download the toolbar in droves. OLL was in first place until 26 October when the Illinois State University chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha pushed OLL to second place but thankfully still in the top five. OLL finished in second place with 683 downloads and won a $1000 donation on top of a $100 donation for being one of the first hundred organizations to reach 100 downloads.
How to use GoodSearch
- Visit the GoodSearch website.
- Enter "The Office of Letters and Light" in the box that asks "Who do you GoodSearch for?" and click "Verify".
- Make sure that OLL comes up. It'll be based in Berkeley, California.
- Search as you normally do. Remember, three searches a day produce over ten dollars a year. That's halo or golden ticket money, and all you had to do was change your search engine. Disclaimer: You won't actually get a halo or golden ticket.
How to use GoodShop
- Visit the GoodShop page.
- Make sure OLL is listed as your charity of choice. If not, do a search for it under "Who do you GoodShop for?" and verify.
- Here you have a lot of leeway. Search for your product or store, or just look at some of the stores listed. When you've decided where to go, click through to go to that site.
- Buy your product. Enjoy. You don't pay any more than you normally would, and OLL also gets a donation.
