GoodSearch in Greedy Hands

1 | John Bartis

January 28th, 2008 at 8:14 pm

Had no idea that GoodSearch was out there. Thanks for sharing your opinions, even though I agree, all I can do is use them and hope the charity I’m supporting is clean.

2 | Christopher Parker

March 11th, 2008 at 5:40 am

The solution for what you are saying lies in the fact that the user can designate their own charity. So the power of due diligence lies with us. It’s no different than responding to a direct mail piece.

That’s the first level of accountability. Plus for organizations to be registered as 501(c)3’s there are some standards and reporting requirements, although that doesn’t eliminate all manner of dysfunction and waste (same as any organization).

The second level of accountability comes with public involvement in the charity. If you _volunteer_ for the organization, you get a good sense of how they operate and spend their money . . . and you are giving on another level too. And of course, it’s important for (1) the media to be involved with organizations (accountability . . . ) and (2) us to share our own experiences with others (accountability . . . ).

3 | Ben

July 23rd, 2008 at 7:08 am

I recently wrote an article about this, basically agreeing with you that GoodSearch seems shadier than anyone else really thinks. It specifically states on the FAQ page that the only way revenue is generated is through clicking on paid search results, not regular ones. On top of that, it states that most high-traffic sites won’t even count toward the totals. On top of that, only 50 percent of the revenue generated goes toward the designated non-profits … and if you don’t designate, then none of it goes to charity!

4 | Anonymous

January 2nd, 2009 at 4:17 pm

I don’t see why it’s a problem that small, non-profit organizations use GoodSearch to get bonuses. Isn’t that what the site is for, to raise money?

5 | LCN

January 13th, 2009 at 8:57 am

Maybe SEO Survivor and Ben (July 23rd, 2008) see the GoodSearch glass half empty, but I choose to see it half full. It is very easy to designate a charity to which your search-generated monies will go, so there is really no reason to have “none of it [go] to charity!” In addition, what the FAQ page states is that a MINIMUM of 50 percent of the revenues from the searches is directed to the non-profits designated by the GoodSearch audience. Around a penny/search might not seem like much in comparison to the hefty checks some may make out to the charities they personally support, but pennies do add up, and the search-generated income is *in addition* to any checks sent by the Bens or other generous donors who give. So go to GoodSearch, designate the charity of your choice, and fill their glass a little more full.

6 | Ben

January 31st, 2009 at 12:18 pm

LCN: You can choose to use cliches and whatnot for glasses being half full or empty, but that doesn’t change the fact that by using GoodSearch.com, you are effectively making advertisers give more money to Yahoo, a for-profit company. Sure, more money goes to non-profits as well, but you seemed to miss two other key elements of my argument: “the only way revenue is generated is through clicking on paid search results, not regular ones. On top of that, it states that most high-traffic sites won’t even count toward the totals.”

7 | Lemastre

February 5th, 2009 at 6:18 am

So what’s the problem? The rules are spelled out. Use the Goodsearch feature. You may make a little money for your charity. You will not lose any. My major gripe with Goodsearch is that it doesn’t offer the resources of Google. And it occasionally gets overloaded and denies access.

8 | Michael Tierney

February 11th, 2009 at 2:24 pm

This article is much ado about nothing. Goodsearch is perfectly legitimate if people take the time to research what non profit they choose to contribute to.

First, you have to have a 501 c 3 registration with the federal government to be registered with Goodsearch. This takes up to a year with lots of scrutiny. You also have to file 5 years of records to get out of your temporary status with the tax exempt status. Non profits with more than $25,000/year (and I think that is being lowered) have to file a very detailed tax return. All of this information is available on line.

Second: Most people use goodsearch to raise money for a particular organization. I direct a program called Step by Step in WV. We’ve been around for twenty years, run after school, summer and youth leadership programs. We are asking all our staff and our donors to use Goodsearch as a way of raising money to expand the transportation $ to get kids to summer food sites. All but 3 of the kids one of the programs we run are eligible for free lunch under federal guidelines which means their families are really hurting when breakfast and lunch are not provided out of the school year. We work to get them to a place where they can have reading, arts, recreation, science and service projects and we feed them two meals. (and take them swimming if we can…_)

Is using the money for this a “big fat bonus.”????

Goodsearch is a fundraising tool. Non profits don’t get “bonuses” they raise money for programs. If they are not effective, they fold.

This doesn’t mean that there are not some corrupt practices out there, but I doubt anyone who cares enough to go through goodsearch to do their searches (because it does take a little more time than simply keeping a favorites list) isn’t also capable of doing a little, largely web based research, to find out if their intended charity is legit.

This article is a cheap shot. Why not take the time to help people figure out how to make sure their charities are legitimate rather than discourage people from using a very simple means of contributing to their cause.

People should not contribute to a charity they have not checked out. Any charity listed in Goodsearch should be something people can track down–find a web page, call up, etc. But this is something you should do for any place you contribute to whether or not you heard about them from a newspaper, goodsearch or in person.

Let me close by highlighting a passage in the article I found particularly objectionable:

Let me give you an example. Say you work at a Non-profit that is registered with GoodSearch. Your Non-profit has 150-200 employees. You make it mandatory that all of your employees use GoodSearch’s toolbar, and that every time they have to search online, they use that engine. Then, at the end of the year you get a nice “bonus” from GoodSearch.

a), Again, this is fundraising, not a bonus. All $ that go to non profits have to be used for their mission and do not go back into private hands
b) Why sneer ar organizations trying to integrate their techonological development with a little fundraising.
I quote a friend of mine who once responded to another friend who kept on obsessing on little details like this:
“If you have this much energy, shouldn’t you use it for something that will save people’s lives?”

9 | Las A. Reath

April 23rd, 2009 at 2:25 am

^^^^ WHAT HE SAID !!!! ^^^^