Donate to charities without touching your budget with these 10 free ways

It’s possible to give charitable donations without hurting a tight budget, according to an article by Prairie Eco-Thrifter. Kiplinger gives additional ideas.

Search engine

Change your search engine to sites like everyclick.com or goodsearch.com. Here you can choose which charities you want your clicks to go toward as you search the Internet.

A giving app

Apps like “Give 2 Charity” allow users to earn points that are exchanged for donations to charities like Make-a-Wish Foundation, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Action Against Hunger, Sierra Club and Humane Society.

Walking, running or biking earns points for other apps like Charity Miles. Bikers earn 10 cents per mile and runners and walkers earn 25 cents per mile.

Donate stuff

Go through closets and donate to local second-hand stores. Donation value guides can help you figure out the market value in order to claim a deduction as well.

Tech gear

Through Dell’s Reconnect program, any brand of any computer equipment can be given. Proceeds go to Goodwill. See how this works at www.dellreconnect.com.

Shop Online

Some sites give a percent of your purchase or cash rewards earned to a charity. GoodShop.com, boxtops4education.com and extrabux.com offer various retailers that will donate as you shop online.

Donate blood

It’s free and it isn’t a long-time commitment.

Donate time

Look at local charities to see what requirements they have. Volunteer agencies can help match you with your skills and experience.

Dining donations

GoodDining donates 6 percent of a restaurant bill to the charity of your choice. There are 10,000 restaurants in U.S. and Canada that are included in the program. However, you do have to register your credit or debit card and use that same card when you dine out.

Give eBay profits

After selling items on eBay, you can choose to donate some profits to a charity.

Fundraise

This involves getting sponsors to take part in a event, whether big like Race for Life or smaller events designed by yourself for smaller charities.

EMAIL: alovell@deseretnews.com