Sometimes the greatest hurdle to giving back to the community is the initial one. Once the “giving train” gathers some momentum, it’s easy to continue your efforts. The question is: How do we motivate people to get over that first speed bump to actually make a difference?

This is a question that my organization, CafeGive, tries to answer. We are essentially an online shopping portal which donates a portion of every purchase to a charity. What makes CafeGive different from other such sites is the ability for the shopper to choose where their money goes from an ever-growing list of 39 causes.

We make it easy for someone to give back because very little behavior change is required. Visit our site, http://cafegive.com (specifically the “shop” link), before buying something online to see if the store you need is among our nearly 350 hosted merchants. Then, just click on their icon and you will be taken to the merchant’s website to complete your purchase. It costs you nothing extra to use this service we provide. With nearly 40 causes to choose from, there’s bound to be one which connects to everyone.

Giving back doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Try CafeGive, where philanthropy is easy!