30 Hour Famine: Teens tweet about starving for charity

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This weekend, the Christian humanitarian organization World Vision will put on its 20th “30 Hour Famine,” a biannual youth fasting event aimed at raising awareness and money for hungry families around the globe. Participants were asked to raise money prior to the event, and today, they will begin fasting to get a glimpse at what it… Read More…

Microsoft employees raised $105M for 19K non-profits in 2012

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For the second year in a row, Microsoft employees eclipsed the $100 million mark in charitable donations, raising $105 million for nearly 19,000 nonprofit organizations. The announcement comes nearly four months after the Redmond software giant brought in Bill Gates to help celebrate raising $1 billion in cash since 1983 for approximately 31,000 nonprofits and community organizations worldwide…. Read More…

Bill Gates wants your help to change the world by 2030

Bill Gates

Once a year, Bill Gates pens an annual letter that recaps the work being done around the world that’s helping the less fortunate. Before his 2013 words come out next week, he wants a little help from you. The Microsoft co-founder is asking people to participate in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation “My Hope… Read More…

Microsoft’s disaster response app HelpBridge alerts family and friends during crisis

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The next time a big disaster hits, Microsoft wants to help you connect with your loved ones. To do that, the Redmond software giant just debuted HelpBridge, a new app that allows users to get in touch with friends and families during crisis. The app, available on Windows, Android, iOS devices, runs on the Windows Azure platform and lets… Read More…

Giving back made easy: New Placed app lets you donate to charity by installing app

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Privacy is important and understandably, people often opt-out of having their location tracked by certain apps. But a new app from Seattle location analytics startup Placed encourages tracking by allowing users to make charitable donations in exchange for having their location tracked. The new service is called Give 2 Charity. Users install the app, grant it location… Read More…

How geeks do charity: Use your GPU to churn out goats

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Your computer’s graphics processor might be more charitable than you think. CoinLab, a Seattle-based tech startup that focuses on the Bitcoin digital currency, has come up with a way for PC users to take advantage of their spare GPU cycles to raise money to buy goats for impoverished families around the world. Yes, real goats…. Read More…

‘Tis the season: Google’s unique Seattle-born G-Give charity program raising thousands this week

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Life can get hectic for a mid-twenties software engineer at a big company. You’re working long hours at an exciting, fast-paced job and when you’re not grinding away at the computer, eating and sleeping likely take up your remaining time. It’s only natural that there’s not much time to think about philanthropy and giving back. What… Read More…

Passports with Purpose: Travel bloggers unite to help the places they write about

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A group called Passports with Purpose, started in 2008 by travel bloggers from the Seattle region, is getting closer its 2012 goal of raising $100,000 for Water.org to build wells in Haiti. This year’s fundraiser and related sweepstakes runs through Tuesday Dec. 11 at 8:59 p.m. Pacific. It’s the latest in a series of charitable… Read More…

Startup Spotlight: GIVINGtrax helps businesses manage donations for social impact

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It started out as a plan to create a simple tool to manage business donations. But then, Karrie and Lance Hungerford realized the opportunity grow something that connects traditional workplace giving and employer-matched donations. The answer was GIVINGtrax, a Seattle-based startup founded in August 2010 that helps both businesses and their employees manage donations for social impact… Read More…

Microsoft sees charitable efforts as key recruiting tool for young talent

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While high-tech companies like Google and Facebook have made it tougher for Microsoft to recruit and retain top employees and engineers over the years, the Redmond-based software giant believes that its philanthropic efforts are attracting talent now more than ever. Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, sat down with reporters after Microsoft marked its 30th Employee… Read More…