WYSIWUG

I just came across a funny new word that sounds like it should describe something wookiees do behind closed doors but actually has a more useful meaning. Wugging, or web-use giving, lets you raise money for do-gooder groups by shopping online and using search engines—things you probably do anyway.

The great thing about wugging is that it costs you nothing. The money comes from affiliate marketing programs and search-engine advertisers. Alonovo, which I’ve blogged about before, is one example of a wugging site. Here are some more:

Everyclick is a U.K.-based search engine, powered by Ask.com, that gives 50 percent of its gross revenues to charity every month. You can pick a group to benefit from your searches from a list of 170,000 organizations. Everyclick says it has raised nearly $586,000 so far.

Here in the U.S., GoodSearch follows essentially the same model. It’s powered by Yahoo, and it has 44,207 participating nonprofits and schools. GoodSearch offers more than just search, however. This year it added a shopping component that lets you raise money for your favorite group by buying from online retailers such as iTunes, Macy’s, Travelocity, and Walmart.

For more wugging fun, check out FreePledge, where you can shop from 189 merchants and choose a beneficiary from among 259 nonprofits, and Schoolpop, which lets you pay down tuition and student loans and raise money for your favorite school. (Schoolpop, it should be noted, is not exclusively web-based; users can also participate in stores and via its branded credit card.)

The wonderful world of wugging is not without its downsides. For one thing, e-commerce wugging sites (as opposed to search engines) give people an incentive to buy from large corporations whose values may not be in line with their own. Then there’s the issue of the energy consumed by shipping all those products. If you’re buying something that you could have found at a local shop, the good that comes from your wugging donation could be outweighed by the benefits of keeping your money in your community.

Still, if you’re going to be shopping and searching online (and who among us isn’t, really?), why not put those keystrokes to good use?

Comments

[Jonathan Treiber]

FreePledge sounds a lot like iBakeSale.com. iBakeSale.com is actually a hybrid between SchoolPop and FreePledge it sounds like from your post. Check it out.

[Wallet Mouth]

Yes, it does sound like a hybrid of those two. It's interesting that it lets you fundraise for yourself. Thanks for pointing it out!

[Polly Gowers]

Hi Bronwyn

Wugging is actually a term we came up with at Everyclick to describe using charity search to fundraise – or change the world one click at a time as we like to say! But I suppose you’re right; it can also be applied to other e-giving sites as well.

You might be interested to learn that according to some research we did here in the UK a lack of time is the main reason why people don’t raise money for charity. But nearly a third would do so if they could integrate it in to their daily life – which is where wugging comes in.

Last year, search engines generated more than $10 billion. Everyclick gives half of its revenues to charity, imagine what $5 billion could do to help charities help people right across the world! And all of it donated by doing nothing more than searching the web. Definitely worth thinking about!

[Wallet Mouth]

Hi Polly,

A-ha! I wondered where the term "wugging" came from (I saw it on Hippyshopper), and you've now answered that question -- thanks!

I agree that it's all about integrating benevolent activities into daily life. It's great that efforts like Everyclick are making that possible with something as quotidian as Internet search. Now it's just a matter of spreading the word...