After standing in line at the supermarket, I need a detox from headlines about the Spears family. If you’re looking for a little more uplift than facelift in your light reading, try “Good” magazine, in print every two months and online every week with fabulous new content.
Features this week include the results of a reader contest to design pro-voting bumper stickers, features on developing urban rain gardens and eradicating Guinea-worm disease, a guide to some of the country’s best-deal farmer’s markets, and an interview with Dave Eggers (whose Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius remains one of those earnestsensitivecollegeintellectual must-reads). Now admit it, that’s some good stuff.
So, if you think the content sounds, well, good, then there’s even better news. It’s all free. Including, essentially, the print edition. Good will let you decide how much you want to pay to join the community and receive the magazine, and then they’ll give whatever you pay to one of their partner charities of your choice. Why would they do that? They thought you might ask:
“This whole thing is an experiment. The intention is to meet a self-selecting group of quality people who find us through word of mouth, internet links, media coverage, mailings, our partner organizations, or the other crazy schemes we like to come up with, and raise significant money for organizations that will do something important with it.”
So there you have it. Back when I joined in July, this privilege cost $20 donated to the org of your choice, but I guess they figured why bother to put a specific number on it, just let people donate what they will. (Fundraising psychology tip: if you put out a sign at your pancake breakfast that says “Donuts $1″ then everyone will give you a dollar. If you put out a sign that says “Donuts, help yourself! Donations appreciated” then almost everyone will give you at least a dollar and lots of people will give you more than a dollar.)
It’s always great to find like-minded people in the real world, too, so keep checking the Good site for the next meet-up in your area.
