FreePoverty - Knowing Helps

FreePoverty

"Knowing Helps"

FreePoverty is a click-to-give site that is free and easy to use. It's in the form of a game, much like FreeRice, but it focuses solely on geography (instead of FreeRice's multiple subjects). As one plays the game, and answers correctly, a certain amount of water (depending on how close to correct the answer was) is added to the individual and total score donated. Near the top of their pages, a counter claims (at the time of this article's writing):

"In total we have donated 225,520,538 Cups of Water!"

The idea for the site itself is that a person who plays the games will view the ads placed on that page; the water donated is then paid for by the money earned from the sponsors' ads. The site isn't just a simple game with ads, though. The game itself is very well-made, and the look of the site is wonderful, so one doesn't mind the ads as much.

Why donate water, though? On their Home page, FreePoverty says:

"70% of a human being is made up of water. Water is the second most essential element for survival, after oxygen. Over one billion people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water; hence, causing them to develop deadly diseases. Moreover, without water, the brain is not able to function properly. One cup of water can make difference to someone's day. FreePoverty allows you to donate as many cups of water as you can to save millions of people."

FreePoverty states on its FAQ page that it is in between organizations due to some sort of "unforeseen issues." These issues are not expounded on, and the link they give promising further explanation leads to a 404 page.

Naturally, this does make FreePoverty seem a bit on the shadier side, though the site is much blogged about, and was associated previously with the popular WaterAid. Spending time on the site at your own discretion, as though the site seems trustworthy, it's hard to be sure at the moment. Perhaps when FreePoverty partners up with a reputable organization, we can all rest assured.

Regardless, the geography game on the site is actually quite fun. Go ahead and check it out at FreePoverty.

helpthirst.com - We Donate 1 Cup of Water to World Vision Every Time You Win

helpthirst.com

We donate 1 cup of water to World Vision every time you win

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UPDATE: Helpthirst.com is down.
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Helpthirst.com is a click-to-give charity site that operates much like the other click-to-give sites, especially FreeRice. To start, you the "Play" button in the dialog box, and it will give you a question and an answer. In the answer is a number that you must remember within the short time allotted, and when it disappears, you must input the correct number. The level will increase as you enter right answers in a row, or decrease for wrong answers. For each right answer, 1 cup of water will be donated. For quite a bit of time, the game is very simple.

It works in the same way many of its click-to-give contemporaries do: you answer to refresh the page, and with it, a new ad appears. On helpthirst.com, the ad is at the top of the page, in banner form. The price of the ad's placement pays for the donations; thus the more one plays, the more money the sponsors must pay, and the more that is donated.

Helpthirst.com donates the water to World Vision, which is an international relief and development organization. According to the World Vision International 'What We Do' page:

"Because poverty has both local and global causes, World Vision works within communities and across geographical areas to help individuals and groups improve the well-being of children and overcome poverty."

They do not work by themselves, however. They engage many other groups and people to participate in the betterment of their communities, and their world. Also on the 'What We Do' page, they state:

"World Vision engages institutions, donors and the general public to address the global problems that perpetuate poverty. Advocacy staff empower communities to speak up for their rights, locally and globally."

Another popular World Vision charity is AIDtoCHILDREN, about whom I wrote an article in my last post. AIDtoCHILDREN also donates to those in need by asking one a question, and paying for the donations through ads. AIDtoCHILDREN donates such things as school supplies, clothing, and food to impoverished children around the world.

If you want to help those in the developing world and disaster areas get fresh, clean water, get to playing on helpthirst.com!

Charitii - Play Multiple-choice Crossword Puzzles for Charity.

Charitii

"Play multiple-choice crossword puzzles for charity"

Charitii is another very easy game that donates to a worthy cause where all you have to do is play. There actually multiple causes, but it's main (and original) cause is donating water to places where it's much needed, and hard to get. As soon as you get on, you can start playing to get donations for whichever cause you chose.

Charitii bases itself around the same things that sites like FreeRice, The Hunger Site, and GamesThatGive base themselves around: advertisements. By playing the game, you earn money via the advertisements for the site, which then gets used to pay for donations to the cause you chose. The site itself features the banner at the bottom, much like FreeRice, and in the same way, bots can cause problems, since advertisers will not invest their money if it's only bots viewing the ads.

You don't have to play anonymously, though; you can register. The register button is at the top right, as well as right under the box with the "Difficulty Level" in it. Once you register, it will save the charity you choose, as well as the amount of points you have earned for that charity. The charities are, as listed on the Charitii site (with the amount donated for each correct answer):

charity: water: 10 ounces of water
Invisible Youth Network ??? Unknown (10 points)
The Nature Conservancy: 10 square inches of rainforest
The Oaktree Foundation: 10 minutes of education
Philippine Aid Society: ??? Unknown (10 points)

For each question you get correct, 10 points will be added to your score. For every two correct answers you give, the difficulty will rise one level. For every one wrong answer, it will go down one level. After a specific amount correct, one letter will disappear, and then two, and so on until it becomes too hard to figure out, and starts over. If you are registered, your score and difficulty will be left from the previous session; if you are not, it will be reset.

Just in the month of July 2009, the highest donating month for charity: water, Charitii claims 11,000 gallons of water were donated. In the same month, they also claim to have donated almost 54,200 feet of rainforest for The Nature Conservancy, and almost 13,000 minutes of education for the Oaktree Foundation.

You can help the world, as well. All you have to do is go the site, play their word game, and aid a cause that could really use it: Charitii.