Toolbar Download Could Pay Off for Foundation

By Amber Lester Tuesday, April 06, 2010

You could turn time spent on the Internet into cash for the Williamsburg Community Foundation.

Through GoodSearch, a free toolbar powered by Yahoo, the foundation could earn up to $5,000 in a special giveaway this week.

GoodSearch will donate $1 for every toolbar downloaded between 9 a.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. Thursday, up to $5,000. Any toolbars added after the $5,000 is given away will not be eligible for the $1 donation. Only one toolbar per IP address will qualify. To download the toolbar, which is compatible with Internet Explorer and Firefox, click here.

GoodSearch has partnered with more than 1,300 stores (including Amazon and eBay) to have a percentage of purchases automatically donated to a user’s designated cause. The toolbar also includes a search function, which donates a penny for every search.

WCF Executive Director Nancy Cote Sullivan says the foundation is looking for creative ways to raise money in a tough economy. She first heard of GoodSearch two years ago, but didn’t consider it as an option for fundraising until she read this article in WY Daily.

She used the toolbar for a month to see how it worked and whether she was able to raise any money for her chosen cause; after three weeks, her searches and online purchases had earned $12.79 toward her charity.
It’s not a lot of money, she says, but if hundreds or thousands of people did the same thing, the foundation could earn money at no cost to itself.

“For each person, it would raise probably dollars,” Sullivan says. “But conceivably, you could earn a few thousand dollars a year doing this. For all of us out there trying to raise money right now, that’s a good amount.”

The Williamsburg Community Foundation gives grants to local nonprofits, including the Rita Welsh Adult Literacy Program, United Way of Greater Williamsburg, the Williamsburg Volunteer Fire Department and more. WCF also gives college scholarship money to seniors in Williamsburg-James City County schools. In 2009, the scholarship fund awarded 52 scholarships valued at $41,900.