The Smarmy Carny

Another program that One Economy Corporation uses to reach low-income communities is Digital Connectors.

Digital Connectors are young people, ages 14 to 21, who accelerate the use of technology in a region by providing training and support to members of their communities. Usually the program runs for up to eight weeks during summer vacation, though some programs vary from this schedule.

Since younger people have grown up around much more technology than the older generations, these young people are an obvious method for pushing technology awareness and education out. 150 Digital Connectors in 10 cities provided technology training and support to more than 3,000 families with an emphasis on basic computer and Internet use and guided instruction on the Beehive.

Digital Connectors are rewarded with stipends or personal computers in exchange for their services to their community.

When looking for a charity, one of the first places I head to is Charity Navigator.

I chose One Economy Corporation, which has 4 out of 4 stars at Charity Navigator: 3 stars for efficiency and 4 stars for capacity. The page also shows that One Economy Corporation has a written privacy policy for donors.

Their motto is "Your guide to intelligent giving" because they rate charities based on their operating efficiency. Their overview page states that "specifically, Charity Navigator's rating system examines two broad areas of a charity's financial health — how responsibly it functions day to day as well as how well positioned it is to sustain its programs over time." They look at things like how much of a donation is put toward their cause (as opposed to operating costs) and how the charity deals with smaller- or larger-than-expected revenue years.

You can also see Top 10 (or Bottom 10) lists on:

• Charities Overpaying their For-Profit Fundraisers
• Celebrity-Related Charities
• Most Frequently Reviewed Charities
• Charities Worth Watching
• Highly Paid CEO's at Low-Rated Charities
• Inefficient Fundraisers

So, when donating to any charity, it's a great idea to check out Charity Navigator to make sure you're not giving your money to a charity that gives one-fifth of their money to their CEO or isn't managing their money well enough to stay afloat longer than five more years.

This year, I am participating in Blogathon to support One Economy Corporation.

One Economy is a 501(c)(3) charity that attempts to maximize the potential of technology to help low-income people improve their lives and enter the economic mainstream. What does that mean? Basically, One Economy tries to bring technology to low-income families who cannot afford technology in the Internet Age. Whereas many charities will give away computers to low-income families, One Economy goes further than that. Instead of simply supplying hardware, One Economy has programs that help low-income people use that technology.

One Economy has several programs that help bridge the technology gap. I will be discussing these programs in detail throughout the Blogathon, but here's a brief summary of some of the larger programs:

• One Economy's flagship program is The Beehive, a multilingual web portal that provides web-based tools and information about financial services, education, jobs, health care, and family.
• The Bring IT Home campaign has brought broadband Internet access into the homes of 200,000 low-income individuals.
• Their Digital Connectors program develops technology skills in people ages 14 – 21 to turn them into "technology ambassadors" who motivate others to connect to the internet.
• The 24/7Townhall is a social media website focused on helping technologically-isolated internet users increase their awareness of and engagement in important social, political, and economic issues.
• ZipRoad, opening in August 2007 (so bookmark it!), is an education-related website that is designed to enable parents and
  caregivers to make informed decisions about their children's education and learning. It is aimed at low-income, low-literacy parents but should be useful to everyone!

One Economy is really quite a unique charity, and that's why I chose it. Please consider sponsoring me for the Blogathon. For more information on how to do that, check out my Blogathon page.