donation
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Facebook donates £1 million to WWII code-breaking site Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park was the site where Alan Turing and his World War II team of code-breakers cracked Germany’s Enigma machine and helped save the world from Nazi tyranny. The site is now a popular museum, but it’s facing a £2 million ($2.6 million) revenue shortfall due to the loss of tourism caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Facebook has announced that it will donate £1 million to the Bletchley Park Trust charity that runs the site.
Google Assistant can help you donate to the Center for Policing Equity
Google is making it easier for Assistant users to donate to an organization working to address racial bias in policing.
Google proposed, then abandoned, a website tipping feature
Google had been working on a tipping tool that let readers donate small sums of money to their favorite sites.
Naughty Dog is donating the money from its ‘Jak and Daxter’ reissues
Early this year, to celebrate its 35th anniversary, game developer Naughty Dog did a physical reissue of its classic PS2-era Jak and Daxter games for PlayStation 4. Fans apparently loved it. The collector's edition sold out in hours and the standard editions sold out in less than a week. Now, instead of pocketing the cash, Naughty Dog is donating all of the proceeds to a bunch of charities.
Alexa lets you donate backpacks full of supplies to kids in need
The new school year is almost upon us and as always, there are families who could use some help with school supplies. With its latest charity initiative, Amazon will let you donate a backpack to a student in need with a simple Alexa command.
GoFundMe launches campaign for government workers hit by shutdown
People have frequently used GoFundMe to lend a helping hand to others in need of some help, but the site itself is getting involved in light of the US government shutdown. The company has teamed up with Deepak Chopra to launch a donation campaign for government workers who've been furloughed or are being forced to work without pay. The initiative will donate contributors' money to "several" non-profits providing relief, including #ChefsForFeds (providing food) and the National Diaper Bank Network. More organizations will come onboard as the campaign continues, GoFundMe CEO Rob Solomon said.
Oxford University halts donations and grants from Huawei
Huawei has faced increasing resistance from the US government and other countries, and now Oxford University has joined the growing number of groups distancing themselves from the company. The university, for now, will no longer accept research grants or donations from Huawei, The Guardian reports, with the ban stemming from "public concerns raised in recent months surrounding UK partnerships with Huawei."
Tell Google Assistant to 'make a donation' and it will
It's now particularly easy to donate to a worthy cause. Google Assistant has quietly introduced support for donations, whether it's through your phone or a smart speaker like the Home Hub. Ask Google to "make a donation" in the US and it'll let you pick a monetary amount and charity (from a group of recommended organizations). So long as you've enabled payments in Assistant, a contribution could be just moments away.
Hiding in plain sight: The YouTubers' crowdfunding piracy
I never imagined I would be watching Kitchen Nightmares, starring the world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay, in my downtime on YouTube. I knew of Ramsay and his ruthlessness from shows like Hell's Kitchen, but I had never heard of Kitchen Nightmares until a few weeks ago, when an episode popped up on YouTube's Trending section. Next thing you know, I'm hooked and watching full episodes of it on my phone instead of the usual sneaker videos. But aside from Ramsay's rants at owners of filthy restaurants, something else caught my attention -- these uploads weren't from Fox, which owns the rights to the show in the US. Instead, they were from an unofficial channel called "Kitchen Nightmares Hotel Hell and Hell's Kitchen." And as if that wasn't brazen enough, the owner explicitly asked viewers for donations to fund the uploading of copyrighted content.
Facebook fundraisers have raised over $1 billion
Facebook announced today that it's expanding its nonprofit fundraising tool to Canada and Australia, and it also shared that it recently reached a major fundraising milestone. Since it launched the tool that allows users to raise money for nonprofits and personal causes, over 20 million users have raised over $1 billion by starting or donating to a fundraiser. The company also said that over 1 million nonprofits across 19 countries are now eligible to receive donations through the tool.
Anchor's donation option lets podcast fans support their favorite shows
Anchor, the audio broadcast-turned-podcasting platform, has launched a new Listener Support feature that lets podcasters collect money from their fans for their efforts. Creators of any size or experience level can add a Listener Support button to their public Anchor profile, which followers can click to make a regular monthly donation of $0.99, $4.99 or $9.99. Adding the button also puts a link in the podcast notes on every app or website where it's available, so listeners can support their favorite shows from anywhere.
DoorDash's delivery drivers will take restaurant leftovers to food banks
DoorDash announced a new project today aimed at reducing the amount of food thrown out by restaurants each year. A 2016 report released by the Food Waste Reduction Alliance found that restaurants that took part in its survey donated just two percent of leftover food in 2015 and over 93 percent of it was just thrown away. And restaurateurs consistently say that transportation is the biggest barrier to food donation. That's where Project DASH comes in. Project DASH, or DoorDash Acts for Sustainability and Hunger, is teaming up with Feeding America Charity and will start transporting food between restaurants and local nonprofits that could make use of it.
Bezos family donates $33 million to Dreamers scholarship program
A number of tech companies and executives have voiced support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. But Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie have just given $33 million in support to DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers. The two just donated the money to TheDream.US, which provides scholarships to Dreamers, and their donation will give 1,000 DACA recipients money to attend college. It's the largest donation in history of TheDream.US. "My dad came to the US when he was 16 as part of Operation Pedro Pan," Jeff Bezos said in a statement. "He landed in this country alone and unable to speak English. With a lot of grit and determination -- and the help of some remarkable organizations in Delaware -- my dad became an outstanding citizen, and he continues to give back to the country that he feels blessed him in so many ways. MacKenzie and I are honored to be able to help today's Dreamers by funding these scholarships."
Uber will donate $5 million to sexual assault prevention
Uber's quest to reform its behavior now includes donations to good causes. The ridesharing firm has promised to contribute $5 million over 5 years to organizations that help prevent sexual assault and domestic violence. The initial round of pledges will go to groups like A Call to Men, the National Network to End Domestic Violence and NO MORE, with a focus on tackling "critical funding gaps" in marginalized communities.
Anyone in the US can use Facebook for personal fundraising
You no longer have to be part of a privileged few to try out Facebook's personal fundraising. The social network has just made its do-it-yourself donation campaigns available to every adult in the US. If you'd like help with a medical bill and don't mind Facebook taking a cut (6.9 percent plus 30 cents), a donation campaign is a quick hop away on your phone or the web.
Lyft's 'Round-Up' program donates part of your fare to charity
Lyft has been positioning itself as the anti-Uber in light of its rival's mounting controversies, and it's determined to underscore that point. The ridesharing service has introduced a Round Up & Donate program that, as the name suggests, rounds up your fare and donates the difference to charity. Opt in and every ride will contribute some pennies to a good cause, whether it's the environment, equality or veterans. It's not going to contribute nearly as much as a straighforward donation, of course, but this could quickly add up if you're a regular Lyft passenger.
How to turn your armchair activism into online good
A lot has been going on around the world lately, and you may have felt the need to express your frustrations at things happening that you don't agree with. Sitting around and complaining about the injustices happening around you is fine (relatively speaking) when you're a teen with limited resources. But as a grownup, you should help the causes you support. In addition to pledging money, signing petitions and participating in one of the many marches around the nation, there are several other ways for you to help people in need without having to leave your house. And you can do them regardless of your political leanings.
Amazon ups its Smile donations 10x for one day
If you need a good reason to pull the trigger on that Amazon purchase, then try telling yourself it's for a good cause. Today only (through midnight PT), the retailer's AmazonSmile program will donate 5 percent of the purchase price from eligible products to the charity of your choice. It is late in the day, but it is good to remember that you can participate and trigger a contribution anytime, simply by using the AmazonSmile website and selecting a charity to receive the contribution. The increased donation (it's up 10x from the regular amount), comes as a thank you for customers ranking Amazon #1 in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) with a score of 86.
An unofficial ACLU Dash Button offers one-touch donations
Amazon's Dash Buttons offer one-click ordering for items your purchase through that Prime membership on a regular basis. In fact, there are over 250 of the buttons from a range of different brands. Last May, the online retailer revealed a $20 IoT version that can be programmed to help with other tasks besides just buying products. Designer and programmer Nathan Pryor is using the handy connected button to provide some relief every time he reads a tweet from President Trump or a headline about the latest happenings at the White House.
Fighting game's 'useless' add-ons help its creators
Steam has a wide range of ways to support game developers, ranging from buying early releases through to countless add-ons. But it doesn't have a way to pay developers out of sheer kindness. How are you supposed to donate short of visiting a website? Pehesse has a way: turn those donations into add-ons. The developer's Honey Rose: Ultimate Fighter Extraordinaire is available for free, but includes eight DLC purchases that do absolutely nothing besides reward the team for its work. The creators of this brawler/visual novel hybrid are very explicit about their pay-what-you-like model, too -- tier labels even offer suggestions, such as "symbolic," "2016 standard" and "above and beyond."
