In my opinion, MSN Instant Messenger is one of the greatest features to surface since the Internet was launched. If you’re still on AIM, you’re so far out of the loop it’s kind of sad. Why don’t you just dial up using your phone line while you’re at it? Not only does MSN allow you to get an account using an email address rather than having to go through the fuss of registering a separate user name (it doesn’t matter what email provider you use, either, which is pretty cool) not only are there far more features than AIM has ever had, and not only are more and more people making the switch every day, but now you can even donate money to a non-profit organization every single time you chat.
Granted, this feature was first offered after MSN put out version 8.1, and owing to a computer that hates me, it took months for me to finally upgrade (I did it today, as a matter of fact!) so if you already know about this awesome feature, feel free to ignore me. If however, you had no idea that the program “I’m” was an option, read on.
Here’s how it works: you download MSN 8.1 or higher. The walkthrough to begin donating is so easy I’m rather embarrassed that I wasn’t able to participate sooner. The best part of all (especially if your cash is not exactly free-flowing) is that you don’t donate money out of your pocket. You know all those little ads that tick across the bottom of your Live Messenger box (the one with all of your friends who are online at the moment)? Those ads make money for MSN, allowing you to IM friends for free. But by joining I’m, MSN will donate part of that ad money to an organization of your choice every time you sign on! How cool is that?!
There are only a few catches, and hopefully as the program gains popularity, those catches will be fixed. The first catch is that it’s only available in the US at this moment in time. The second catch is that you can’t donate to any old organization that you want, but the list of organizations you can help is actually quite good. Over time, the list will probably continue growing. Which organizations can you help?
American Red Cross
Boys and Girls Clubs of America
The Humane Society of the United States
National AIDS Fund
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Ninemillion.org
Sierra Club
Stopglobalwarming.org
Susan G. Komen For The Cure
Unicef
Between helping cure diseases, feeding hungry people, saving the planet from self-destructing, and rescuing animals, you can help pretty much any cause that strikes you as worthy.
What am I doing, you ask? I’m a part of ninemillion.org. It ensures that children living in refugee camps can still get an education. Not only that, but it ensures that these children can participate in sports, which might seem kind of unnecessary, but let me point out that when you’re living on a refugee camp and feel like you have no will to live, being a kid and looking forward to a soccer match you’ll be playing can keep you going each day. Plus, it raises self esteem, so the program focuses primarily on young girls. By ensuring that girls have more self-confidence, it lowers the odds that they’ll turn to drugs for an emotional outlet or that they’ll have sex or get pregnant, which lessens their odds of contracting HIV (women are actually more likely to contract the disease, by the way). I help with all that just by chatting with my pen pal over my morning coffee. And even if my endless hours of chat time only amount to purchasing a box of chalk for a blackboard, or a football, that one piece of chalk or that one game could be making all the difference in the world to someone in another country. That’s all the motivation I need.
