Hi, I’m Kaarin, and I’m a writer on the Windows Live team. I love my day job, but I don’t exactly save lives every day at work, so I try to do my part in other ways to make the world a better place. Here are a few quick and easy ways I use Windows Live to support charitable causes.
The i’m initiative
Whenever I send someone an IM in Windows Live Messenger or an e-mail message in Windows Live Hotmail, Microsoft donates money to the cause I selected (UNICEF). One of the nicest benefits I get from working at Microsoft is that the company matches my charitable donations and volunteer time. The i’m initiative is even easier—it’s free money. If one of the many causes in the i’m initiative has your heart, download a panel for your blog, the theme pack for Messenger, and a button or banner to add to your e-mail signature.
Search and Give
Another source of free money is Search and Give from Live Search. You can select a cause from over 800,000 non-profit organizations and 100,000 K-12 schools in the U.S. Then you can set Search and Give as your home page or your default search engine. Every time you search, Microsoft donates 1 cent to your cause. It may not sound like much, but it adds up, particularly if you get the word out and all your friends start using Search and Give for their searches, too. To earn more for your charity or school, you can even play fun free games on Live Search Club. One of my favorite ways to waste time!
At this time, the i’m initiative and Search and Give are available to people living in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia. Let’s say you live somewhere else, or your cause isn’t part of the i’m initiative. All is not lost. There are lots of other ways to use Windows Live to raise awareness for your favorite cause.
Add a signature in Hotmail
You never quite know how many people your e-mail messages reach, especially if you like to forward stories, jokes, and such. Your signature is a great way to spread the word about your favorite cause.
- Go to Windows Live Hotmail, click Options, and then click More options.
- Under Customize your mail, click Personal e-mail signature.
- Describe your cause (adding links if you want), and then click Save.
Add a signature in Windows Live Mail
- Open Windows Live Mail, click Tools, click Options, and then click the Signatures tab.
- Select the Add signatures to all outgoing messages check box.
- Click New.
- Under Edit Signature, click Text.
- Describe your cause (adding links if you want), and then click OK.
Share the website of your favorite cause
If you have a blog or space on Windows Live, make sure to share the website for your cause there, too. And make the webpage a shared favorite on Windows Live by clicking the Share button on Windows Live Toolbar. When you add the favorite, it appears on your What’s new list for everyone in your network to see.
Customize your display picture and personal message
You can state your cause (and even include a link) in the personal message you show in Messenger and on your profile page. You can even use your display picture to illustrate your cause. You can change both of these from your profile details page.
Create a volunteering group
I want to instill the value of community service in my preschooler, so I’m setting up a group of other moms in my neighborhood who have young kids. Then, I plan to create a calendar with a volunteer event for each month. Some months, we’ll pick up litter in our neighborhood, others we can go door-to-door to collect food for the local food bank. We’ll see how it goes!
If you like these ideas, please spread the word!
- Kaarin
Windows Live team
