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Add me on SphinnEDIT IN : Some people think that I’m trying to scam money and use this to scam you guys for tax breaks. I’m really sorry, but a couple hundred dollars is not doing to put even the smallest of dents into what I owe for taxes. I just wanted to think of a creative way to give to charity.
It’s time to start the first of hopefully more projects to help give back to others less fortunate than we all are. We are all very lucky (and smart) to be in this industry, and I think we’re all able to give 1/100 of what we do back to those who need it. So here’s the announcement of Charity Check Tuesday. I’ve wanted to do something like this for a while now, but wanted to wait until I had a decent readership to do so.
What is Charity Check Tuesday?
Well, the biggest motivation behind this comes from Shoemoney’s Free Shirt Friday. Basically companies send him shirts, and he’ll post a picture of himself with the shirt on and give the company some link love. I think it’s a great way to involve different people in your blog, but I wanted to do something with charity (unless you want to send me a pimp cup…which is sweet haha).
So what I’m asking is that instead of sending me t-shirts, I’m asking that companies send me checks. Every Tuesday I’ll post a picture of me holding a check that’s sent to me and do a little writeup on the company (or person) that sent the check. What I’ll do is every month have a poll, and you guys will vote for the charity of the month. Then at the end of the month, I’ll combine the checks and write one big check to the charity that you guys choose (I’ll take a picture of me holding it so you know it’s not fake). I’ll give it a week or two to let some checks come rolling in before I start to post up pictures. Why Tuesday? I have no idea…
The minimum check amount must be $15. If it’s lower than $15, it won’t be posted on this site. It’s not that I’m trying to get more money out of you, but I can’t go in and cash a hundred $1 checks every week, the bank would kill me and I think I’d kill myself. If a company decides to be awesome and sends a huge check, it will get posted priority before other ones. Other than that, they’ll all be posted as they’re received. In the memo of your check just put your website URL so people can see it on the picture and so I know what to post about as well. You can attach a small note about your company/website as well to help me out a little more. You’re getting some decent traffic and helping a good cause…who could ask for more?
Sound cool?
Mailing Information : if you want to send a check for Charity Check Tuesday, write the check to Paul Bourque and then use this as the address you send it to :
UberAffiliate
P.O. Box 81
Niagara Falls, NY 14304
March 4th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Can we do Paypal?
March 5th, 2008 at 4:11 am
I wouldn’t mind paypal’ing too. If I sent you AUD$15 cheque, it would cost you about that much just to bank it in US.
It looks like you’re coping a bit of flak with this idea. At face value it looks good because essentially it’s a $15 review me compared to $500 odd from John Chow. However, when raw cash is involved there’s always some sceptitism. Why would someone raking in 100s of 1000s of $$$ require someone to send them $15 ?
There’s no tax break here because i’d guess the US tax laws to be similar to oz where the cheque’s become your taxable income but then you equalise it with the donation.
How I see it is that there’s no real incentive for you other than you wanting to help out a charity. The only way I can see this fly and give it any merit is
a) like some one else suggested here, you give $15 to all your readers to donate to their charity. If this were to happen, it’d be headline CNN news for sure and you could seriously have a photos section with all your readers posting their cheques.
b) you match everyone’s donation dollar for dollar (or something close) with a charity of YOUR choice, changing charities every month with a post about the merits of the charity of the month. Each donator would get a quick link back.
c) you get t-shirts and donate the t-shirts to charity :P
Jerry
March 4th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Well I can certainly add it to the donation check, but I won’t really have anything to take a picture of. I can’t take a picture of me holding a Paypal screenshot. Well I could using photoshop lol but too complicated.
I just edited the post actually so check it out.
March 4th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Wait. This is a joke post, right?
I mean, I love your blog and you seem like a nice guy… but you expect people to just send you… an affiliate marketer… money?
March 4th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Yes…
I said I’ll be posting a check at the end of every month that I write that will be sent to the charity that my readers vote for. I’m not going to be keeping the money lol.
March 4th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
You know, I’d like to believe you. Really I would.
But I don’t.
March 4th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
So don’t send a check then.
I’m not out to fake donating to charity to scam a few hundred bucks….ayeee…
March 4th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
I don’t think our $15 checks are gonna make a difference in Paul’s Income.
March 4th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Don’t mean to be rude but your making what, $800,000 a month, and you want us to send you measly $15 checks to help a charity? Why cant you spare some of the 800K?
March 4th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Completely agree.
In fact, here’s a much better solution, Paul. Why don’t you send each of your 1293 readers a check for $15 every month so we can give it to our favorite charities?
That’s less than $20k/month for you and I mean, you trust us, right?
March 4th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Good one…dick!
March 4th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I don’t think there’s any reason to resort to name calling. It was a serious proposition and one that would get you a huge amount of publicity.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Everyone can contribute. This is a way to contribute and get something back for it.
March 4th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
i thought you were kidding about this..haha
March 4th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Hey, how about I send it to the charity of my choice instead so you can’t scam the tax breaks.
March 4th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
ahahahahahahahaha
Yeah cutting $200 off my tax break is going to really save me some mad cash.
March 4th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
you know it!!!
March 4th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I don’t see why someone would send in a huge check other than for the publicity when they could donate the money directly to the charity and also get the tax deduction for it.
March 4th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Great idea Paul! I have been working on a few charity ideas of my own, but I never thought of this angle. I think super affiliates need to really step up and start giving back some of the good fortune. There a lot of people in need and theres more to life than just buying things or hording the money…
March 4th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Everyone should do more for charity.
March 4th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I put some thought into it and here is my take:
1. You are opening a pandoras box here. Next time you post a picture of your “Brand New Hummer” and you will have some dumb bastard saying “I bet he used them charity checks to buy that”
2. Since most (all) people will be sending you the checks for link love and exposure, why not, the users send you a video or photos of them writing out the check to the charity, sealing it in an envelop, and also showing the dropping of the envelope in the mailbox? Then you can show the photos of the checks, write about them, and give some link love and exposure.
Just my 2 cents.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
1) Dumb bastards will be dumb bastards. You can’t buy a Hummer with $200.
2) That’s way too much work on their end, it’s a lot easier to just send me a check.
Hopefully some people will be noble enough to write a check so I can actually post about it and then write the check to charity.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Who do we make the checks out to? ;)
March 4th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Whoops. Paul Bourque.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Hehe. Found it in your “About” page. Couldn’t remember what your last name was.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Nevermind. Sent. :)
March 4th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
It’s hilarious to me how people are acting. LOL. I mean common people he’s doing you a favor. Instead of giving to charity and JUST getting the “warm” good feeling, you get some link love as well.
I HIGHLY doubt he’d run off with the 25 dollar checks (or whatever) he’s going to be getting and ruin his reputation all for the sake of making an extra hundred bucks or so.
Gah… People these days.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I give to charity because it’s the right thing to do and it makes me feel good, not because I want something out of it for me. That kinda defeats the purpose.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
True, but I think people are giving Paul a hard time. I’m positive he’s sincere about this idea, but the masses tend to bitch and whine a lot so his good intentions are actually going to work against him because of arseholes like Dom.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Which is why I want to reward those who donate with some traffic.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
I’d be willing to bet you dont donate or do much. Your attitude gives you away.
:)
March 4th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
You certainly won’t hear me bragging about it on a blog, that’s for sure.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Why bust his balls? I think it’s pretty cool and a good idea. I’m sure ‘Nova is planning on contributing too. The amount of good tips shared on this blog speaks volumes about his generosity in my opinion. Even though he’s a very good giver to himself, he shares more than most.
Could he pull off a charity scam? yea. Does he really need to and risk the whole karma will get ya thing? Heck no.
Balls up nova… You gotta hang ‘em out there once and a while. Just don’t post a pic of a new hummer like “Think” said or i’ll have to post my pic of that soft tail kids trike from DP again ;-)
March 4th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
It’s a bad idea because sending a check to *anyone* else but the intended recipient is a bad idea. You are opening yourself up to the possibility of identity theft.
If you want to give to charity, give directly to charity. Never *ever* trust any third party to pass the money on. If you want publicity, give Paul the money directly in return for ad space.
I’m not having a go at Paul. His intentions may be completely honorable. But then that might be true about the 500 emails I get from Nigeria every week. It’s just… highly unlikely.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Ignore the haters posting, its a good idea. I would like to be able to vote or something on which worthwhile charity the pooled money goes to, is that possible?
March 4th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Yes, there will be a poll on what charity the money goes to.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Paul,
This is a good idea. I’m up for it.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Another thing..
Will you send all the checks you received during the month to the charity we vote for or will you only send the 4 checks that you post during the month?
March 4th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I’ll send all checks, they’re just get posted that next month or whenever they fit in.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Great idea Paul!!!
I think he’s going to promote all the checks that he gets. And then at the end of the month he’ll write ONE check of the combined total for all the checks together to the charity of choice :)
Sounds good. Hope you raise a lot of support. Quick question. If we are an individual and don’t want a company posting, is that ok?
March 4th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
That’s fine, just make sure to include the link in a note or in the memo so I can write about it.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
@Dom, you can dislike his idea, but don’t be a dick about it. Just say, “I don’t think this is a good idea, thanks for all the affiliate tips though.”
@Paul, I really like your idea. I think it might be more of a pain in the ass than its worth, but try it out, and if its good, then make it a permanent part of the blog. It could even be once a month, like $15 on the 15th.
@Anyone else doubting, Are you really afraid Paul is going to steal your identity? If he did you could just find him at the next Affilate Summit and kick his ass, he’s not that buff yet. LOL.
Keep up the good work.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
hahaha there’s no way this guy is being serious. It must be one of his jokes again. Charity Tuesday? Can I pay you with canned goods instead ($15 worth, of course)? After all, you are going to donate it anyways right?
March 4th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
As long as you pay shipping ;)
March 4th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Paul, I’ve been loving your blog and bought a domain today based on an idea you shared a little while back. Also, I turned up a campaign so that I can fail faster, another idea I got from you (also from Amit Mehta and Harrison Gevirtz).
Anyways, I’d be happy to donate, but my banking is totally online. So can you email me your paypal address? I don’t care if you share a screenshot or whatever of the money. On a related note, you may be interested in the Charity Awards for Search Education that I did:
http://seoroi.com/seo-roi-quality/charity-awards-for-search-education/
March 4th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Hi Paul,
Its a great idea but I can see from the comments that people don’t have much trust these days, sad world really.
Couple of things if i was doing that in the UK any cheques(checks), that came to me would be classed as income and would be taxable, not sure if thats the same as in the US.
A suggestion is maybe you pick a charity, everybody write a check to you with the charity name on, you do some sort of blogroll for everybody that sent a check in for the name in lights effect, maybe top two donators write a small piece, and then everybodies name goes into the hat, and winner out of hat picks the next charity(ie it could be there local one or something), an dthe winner gets a little piece why they picking that charity.
(As an example Jonathon Volk, might win and say right donations this month to his church that he takes part in and helps)
Would be great ie if somebody picked a local charity to them and 1200 affiliate markekers sent in $15 checks for them.
Just a suggestion,little more work but covers your back.
Keep smiling
Kevin
UK
March 5th, 2008 at 6:37 am
I think Kevin would be right about the checks becoming income. Even still, I think this could still benefit both sides.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
You think UberAffiliate would steal $15 from everyone? He’ll send them all in.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:41 am
Well you missed something here :)
You should have added that you double the amount received up to 1k,2k how much you want .
Dom - not everybody is like you to scam for $200 and run out of country =))
March 5th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Wow… People are pretty untrusting, but I can’t say I blame them. If you take a look at all the scamming going on these days, it’s no wonder everyone’s a skeptic. I was thinking about possible ways this could be improved. Perhaps you could have people write the check out to their favorite charity and send it to you. This solves two problems. First, there’s no way YOU can take the money, so that should calm a few people down. Second, when I donate, I want the money to go to the charity *I* chose, not the one chosen by readers as a whole.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Paul,
The idea is good, but getting people to donate money is very hard. Good luck.
~Shannon
p.s. I might be in contact with you later. I have something that I’m working on that you might be interested in. It’s along the same lines as donating to charity, but with a more personal and meaningful touch.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:56 am
It will be interesting to see what everyone is doing and how successful this will be next Tuesday :)
March 5th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
So are you going to match our donations at the end of the month? Say we all give you $200, you’ll match it with your $200 and give $400 to the charity the majority of us choose? If so thats a sick idea.
Not to be a yahoo or anything, but I noticed the more I give the more money I make. It’s weird how the universe works. So it’s a real good idea we get involved in something like this, though I only wish Paul would figure out away to increase transparency.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
and this is why you will have 10,000 rss readers soon my friend :) keep it up, UberBlogger in disguise :P
March 6th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Haha, Im kind of thinking the same thing ;)
March 5th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
LOL this is so stupid, why would we send you money so you can donate it to charity just to get a backlink. I could get triple the traffic spending my money somewhere else.
You make all these fucking posts about being an affiliate god, making 800k/month, and you expect us to send you money. The only reason people read this blog is because they don’t have enough money. Why don’t you donate all your blog revenue.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Of course this is a great idea! First, companies who donate will not only “look good” but will have a blog written about them. Secondly, charities receive much-needed money. Basically, it’s a WIN-WIN!!!
PS:
Paul won’t be stealing your money, that would be too easy! ha
March 5th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Hey Paul
Great idea, ignore the negatives. If you have a good idea or have done a good thing, there will always be somebody who complains.
P.S. You’re doing a great thing with your blog by inspiring so many people. Keep doing what you are doing, believe me, this is way more than donating thousands to a charity.
Good luck with your charity campaign
Kirtok
March 5th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
[...] Source RSS Trackback URL 5. March 2008 (23:47) Filed under: Home [...]
March 6th, 2008 at 3:08 am
Great stuff Paul, this charity thing!
At some point we must pay back to the community or others and realize that we are fortunate.
March 7th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
NickyCakes wrote:
“I give to charity because it’s the right thing to do and it makes me feel good, not because I want something out of it for me.”
Uuuhm, Nicky boy, that part where it makes you “feel good”….. that’s partly you getting something out of it. Maybe you playing critic all the time has made you lose track of how “good feelings” and altruism can be coincident.
March 7th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Hey here’s an idea which is very original. There’s this site, http://www.mostexpensivedomainsold.com, Most Expensive Domain Sold for Charity where 50% of the sale of this domain will go to charity. The current ask price for is $1million. Affiliates who help to promote this sale will enter into a raffle where each visitor they bring in is worth 1 raffle ticket. 1st place winner gets 25%, 10% to 2nd, 5% to 3rd. You can sign up for your own unique id so the more visitors you bring in, the higher your chances of winning. The idea is that if the word gets out, someone might actually put a bid in … hey why not? 100% of their donation is deductible, s/he