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iGoogle “Themes for Causes”

By Sharon Schneider
 

In the category of Too Much Information, you can file this: the widgets on my iGoogle homepage include “To-Do’s” “Weather” “Gmail” and “Movie Times,” which, much to my aggravation, I am unable to change to my new Chicago zip code permanently–it keeps reverting back to Fairfield, CT.   But the theme of my page was the Hong Kong skyline, which changes the time of day in the picture on my screen along with the actual time of day, how cool is that?  Now, I just noticed near the bottom right of the theme bar, something called “Themes for Causes.”

Turns out you can now customize your theme to be a graphic from your favorite cause. There are currently only about 25 cause themes, but looking at which charities already have a theme up is just fascinating.  It’s the same folks who I have seen be incredibly media-savvy or web-savvy in other areas of their fundraising: Invisible Children, Ashoka, The ONE Campaign, Heifer International, Charity: Water (which got almost $1,000 from my friends and family who donated in lieu of birthday gifts, and many thousands more from others like me. Check out my write-up of their campaign here). Heavy on environmental orgs and disaster/development organizations like Oxfam, Mercy Corps and the Red Cross.

After you choose your theme for a cause, you’ll be the only one who sees it day it to day–it’s not like an IM icon or a Facebook or Twitter picture that folks will see next to your name every time you contact them.  But once you select the theme there will be an ever-present option to Donate in the bottom right of the theme box.

In case you’re wondering, I decided to go with the Jane Goodall Institute. First, because the monkeys remind me of my kids.  Second, because I’m visiting the Jane Goodall Institute next summer in Africa and it will keep me very excited to look forward to this wonderful opportunity. 

 iGoogle Jane Goodall Institute theme

iGoogle Jane Goodall Institute theme

Attention Charities: Be a Cause to Remember

This iGoogle theme thing may seem a little silly.  Maybe not worth your time to develop one.  I mean, how much are they really going to raise through a click button on their Google homepage?  But I think the emergence of these themes taps into one of the trends in philanthropy–the desire people have to live an integrated life, expressing their values in a consistent way through all parts of their life.  That means self-identifying themselves as active, concerned citizens by adding “Causes” on Facebook (12 million people have).  It means giving charitable gifts this Christmas instead of Wal-Mart gift cards.  And it means adding a charity theme to their iGoogle homepage.
 
If you want to be part of their identity, which means being part of their day-to-day life, give them these ways to express their support.  It’s part of the larger connection.  And if it’s not your charity, it will be another charity that is in front of their face, the first thing they see every morning, day after day after day, and every time they click the “home” button, and every time they do a Google search.  Don’t you want your cause to be the one they remember?

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This entry was posted on December 11, 2008 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “iGoogle “Themes for Causes””

  1. Raman Says:
    January 5, 2009 at 3:22 am | Reply

    Can u plz tell me how to add “Donate” button in igoogle theme. Cheers !!

  2. Sharon Schneider Says:
    January 5, 2009 at 12:42 pm | Reply

    Raman, I wish I knew. Maybe it’s up to the cause who develops the theme? If you’re a developer, I bet Google has some good resources for you. If you’re looking to donate to a specific charity and don’t know how, check out http://www.networkforgood.org, and you can make a donation through their web site.

  3. Claire Says:
    February 4, 2009 at 12:38 pm | Reply

    Hey Sharon,

    Could you please either inform me or instruct me to a place that can tell me how to become a cause on iGoogle? I’m representing the Jeannette Rankin Foundation and we’d love to be a part of this!

    Cheers

    • Sharon Schneider Says:
      February 4, 2009 at 1:02 pm | Reply

      Hi Claire,
      I’m no developer but I found this – http://code.google.com/intl/en/apis/themes/index.html – by clicking through the google homepage. It seems to be a resource center for those who want to develop a theme. I believe you have to design and code the theme yourself, but you could probably find a developer to help you probono. Why don’t you email me directly and I’ll see if I can find a developer who will work with you through my networks. My email is sharon.l.schneider (at) gmail (dot) com

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