Net searches make cents for nonprofits

By searching the Internet, patrons of Scottdale Public Library are helping to raise money -- a penny at a time -- for a new, $1.3 million library.

Others are doing the same for various programs offered by the Greensburg YMCA, the YWCA of Westmoreland County and Westmoreland County Community College.

All four nonprofit organizations have discovered the Internet search engine Goodsearch.com. Powered by Yahoo, the online search engine donates one penny to charitable organizations for every search conducted on its site.

Last year, Scottdale library's patrons conducted 5,274 searches on the Web site from July through December, generating $52.74.

That may not sound like much, but librarian Patricia Miller isn't complaining. She noted that other, more-traditional types of penny drives have raised thousands of dollars for the building fund.

"There's no donation too small that we are not grateful for," Miller said. "Our schoolchildren have raised over $10,000 in pennies, literally bringing a handful of pennies in at a time. We believe those pennies really do add up. Goodsearch is just another way to do that."

Founded in 2005 by brother and sister Ken and JJ Ramberg, Goodsearch.com works by donating half its advertising revenue for every search conducted, or approximately a penny a search, to nonprofits. Once a nonprofit group is registered at the site, users can select it from a scroll-down menu as the charity of their choice.

Then, for every search a user conducts at Goodsearch.com, their charity is credited with one penny. Nonprofits that generate at least $20 in each 12-month period ending Sept. 30 are sent checks in December. Amounts of less than $20 are sent to charities of Goodsearch.com's choice, according to the Goodsearch Web site.

According to statistics maintained by Goodsearch.com, Scottdale Library won't receive a check this year because it raised only $10.45 between July and September of 2006. It will in 2007, though, because users already conducted enough searches from October through Jan. 10 to have generated more than $49.

Lee Boehme, of the Greensburg YMCA, is hoping to raise $100 this year through Goodsearch.com. Registered with the site since October, the organization has so far generated $10.91 through searches conducted in its name.

Boehme said she's optimistic those numbers will grow as its customers learn, mainly through word of mouth, of the charitable search engine.

"The more it spreads, we hope it will snowball," Boehme said.

Even if the YMCA fails to generate at least $20, Boehme said she'll still be satisified that some other charitable group will benefit.

"We know they pick causes, themselves, if we don't get enough, so every little bit helps someone," Boehme said.

Any proceeds the YMCA realizes from the Web site will be put toward its Strong Kids Campaign, which provides memberships to children whose families cannot afford them.

The YWCA of Westmoreland County, in Greensburg, registered with the site last September. According to Goodsearch.com statistics, the organization has generated enough searches in its name to raise $3.58.

Gina McGrath, of the YWCA, said she learned of the site through a national YWCA newsletter. In addition to registering the Greensburg YWCA with the site, McGrath said she spread word of its existence to other nonprofits that participate in its monthly Bagels and Bytes meetings.

The meetings help nonprofits keep up with technology.

McGrath said while the YWCA has thousands of searches to go before it sees a check, it will continue to participate.

"So far, so good, but it will be nice to see when we actually collect some of that money," McGrath said. "I figure this way, it can't hurt anything."

Westmoreland County Community College is also registered with the site.

Linda Morlacci, executive director of the school's education foundation, said she signed up the college after learning of the site at a national conference for foundations representing community colleges. She is waiting until after the college's techology department has looked into the Web site before promoting it.

"I've been using it personally, and it seems to be working just fine, but we haven't spread the word," Morlacci said. "We referred it to our technology department before we go any further with it."

Proceeds, she said, could be used for scholarships, renovations, equipment and techology advances.

For more information, visit www.goodsearch.com