Tuesday, October 23, 2007

DonorsChoose.org Blogger Challenge

Better late than never, I'm pointing you towards the personal finance bloggers' entry into the October Blogger Challenge at DonorsChoose.org.

DonorsChoose.org lets users fund specific projects proposed by public school teachers for their students. I'm somewhat conflicted about it, because funding these projects almost feels like support for the idea that charity can just pick up the slack when our students are denied their right to sufficient public funding for a good education. But on the other hand, while our funding system remains skewed and unfair, there will be schools and students that are underfunded, and this website helps us do something about it.

Anyway, enough of my soul-searching. The point is, we are all teaming up to donate to some personal finance-related classroom projects, and are over $2000 (and 100 students impacted) so far! There are still a few left on our list to be funded, so go check them out-- or search the site and donate to another project-- or donate to something else altogether (my offer to match donations to Oxfam still stands!)

1 comment:

M&A-art said...

MAKE THOUSANDS NOW!!! EARN TONS OF CASH TODAY!!! NO GIMMICK!!!
READING THIS COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

I found this on a bulletin board and decided to try it. A little
while back, I was browsing through newsgroups, just like you are now,
and came across an article similar to this that said you could make
thousands of dollars within weeks with only an initial investment of
$6.00! So I thought, Yeah right, this must be a scam,but
like most of us, I was curious, so I kept reading. Anyway, it said
that you send $1.00 to each of the 6 names and address stated in the
article. You then place your own name and address in the bottom of
the list at #6, and post the article in at least 200 newsgroups.
(There are thousands) No catch, that was it. So after thinking it
over, and talking to a few people first, I thought about trying it. I
figured: what have I got to lose except 6 stamps and $6.00,
right? Then I invested the measly $6.00. Well GUESS WHAT!!...
within 7 days, I started getting money in the mail! I was shocked! I
figured it would end soon, but the money just kept coming in. In my
first week, I made about $25.00. By the end of the second week I had
made a total of over $1,000.00! In the third week I had over
$10,000.00 and it's still growing. This is now my fourth week and I
have made a total of just over $42,000.00 and it's still coming in
rapidly. It's certainly worth $6.00, and 6 stamps, I have spent more
than that on the lottery!! Let me tell you how this works and most
importantly, why it works....Also, make sure you print a copy of this
article NOW, so you can get the information off of it as you need it.
I promise you that if you follow the directions exactly, that you
will start making more money than you thought possible by doing
something so easy!
Suggestion: Read this entire message carefully! (print it out or
download it.) Follow the simple directions and watch the money come in!
It's easy. It's legal. And, your investment is only $6.00 (Plus postage)

IMPORTANT: This is not a rip-off; it is not indecent; it is not
illegal; and it is virtually no risk - it really works!!!!
If all of the following instructions are adhered to, you will receive
extraordinary dividends.

PLEASE NOTE:
Please follow these directions EXACTLY, and $50,000 or more can be
yours in 20 to 60 days. This program remains successful because of
the honesty and integrity of the participants. Please continue its
success by carefully adhering to the instructions.
You will now become part of the Mail Order business. In this business
your product is not solid and tangible, it's a service. You are in
the business of developing Mailing Lists. Many large corporations are
happy to pay big bucks for quality lists. However, the money made
from the mailing lists is secondary to the income which is made from
people like you and me asking to be included in that list.
Here are the 4 easy steps to success:

STEP 1: Get 6 separate pieces of paper and write the following on
each piece of paper;PLEASE PUT ME ON YOUR MAILING LIST. Now
get 6 US $1.00 bills and place ONE inside EACH of the 6 pieces of
paper so the bill will not be seen through the envelope (to prevent
thievery). Next, place one paper in each of the 6 envelopes and seal
them. You should now have 6 sealed envelopes, each with a piece of
paper stating the above phrase, your name and address, and a $1.00
bill. What you are doing is creating a service. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY
LEGAL! You are requesting a legitimate service and you are paying for
it! Like most of us I was a little skeptical and a little worried
about the legal aspects of it all. So I checked it out with the U.S.
Post Office (1-800-725-2161) and they confirmed that it is indeed
legal! Mail the 6 envelopes to the following addresses:


#1.) Anja Antolovic, J.P.Kamova 68, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia

#2.) Slavica Drakulic, J.P.Kamova 41, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia

#3.) Nino Jusanovic, J.P.Kamova 41, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia

#4.) Aleksandar Banjac, Novačka 52, 10040 Zagreb, Croatia

#5.) Mirko Povotic, Ilica 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

#6.) Mario Karacic, Boticev trg 1, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia


STEP 2: Now take the #1 name off the list that you see above, move
the other names up (6 becomes 5, 5 becomes 4, etc...) and add YOUR
Name as number 6 on the list.

STEP 3: Change anything you need to, but try to keep this article as
close to original as possible. Now, post your amended article to at
least 200 newsgroups. (I think there are close to 24,000 groups) All
you need is 200, but remember, the more you post, the more money you make!
This is perfectly legal! If you have any doubts, refer to Title 18
Sec. 1302 & 1341 of the Postal lottery laws.
Keep a copy of these steps for yourself and, whenever you need money,
you can use it again, and again.

PLEASE REMEMBER that this program remains successful because of the
honesty and integrity of the participants and by their carefully
adhering to the directions. Look at it this way. If you are of
integrity, the program will continue and the money that so many
others have received will come your way.
NOTE: You may want to retain every name and address sent to you,
either on a computer or hard copy and keep the notes people send you.
This VERIFIES that you are truly providing a service. (Also, it might
be a good idea to wrap the $1 bill in dark paper to reduce the risk of mail
theft.)

So, as each post is downloaded and the directions carefully followed,
six members will be reimbursed for their participation as a List
Developer with one dollar each. Your name will move up the list
geometrically so that when your name reaches the #1 position you will
be receiving thousands of dollars in CASH!!! What an opportunity for
only $6.00 ($1.00 for each of the first six people listed above) Send
it now, add your own name to the list and you're in business!

---DIRECTIONS ----- FOR HOW TO POST TO NEWSGROUPS------------
Step 1) You do not need to re-type this entire letter to do your own
posting. Simply put your cursor at the beginning of this letter and
drag your cursor to the bottom of this document, and select 'copy'
from the edit menu. This will copy the entire letter into the
computer's memory.

Step 2) Open a blank 'notepad' file and place your cursor at the top
of the blank page. From the 'edit' menu select 'paste'. This will
paste a copy of the letter into notepad so that you can add your name
to the list.

Step 3) Save your new notepad file as a .txt file. If
you want to do your postings in different settings, you'll always
have this file to go back to.

Step 4) Use Netscape or Internet explorer and try searching for
various newsgroups (on-line forums, message boards, chat sites,
discussions.)

Step 5) Visit these message boards and post this article as a new
message by highlighting the text of this letter and selecting paste
from the edit menu. Fill in the Subject, this will be the header that
everyone sees as they scroll through the list of postings in a
particular group, click the post message button. You're done with
your first one! Congratulations...THAT'S IT! All you have to do is
jump to different newsgroups and post away, after you get the hang of
it, it will take about 30 seconds for each newsgroup!
**REMEMBER, THE MORE NEWSGROUPS YOU POST IN, THE MORE MONEY YOU WILL MAKE!! BUT
YOU HAVE TO POST A
MINIMUM OF 200**
That's it! You will begin receiving money from around the world within days!
You may eventually want to rent a P.O.Box due to the large amount of mail you
will receive. If
you wish to stay anonymous, you can invent a name to use, as long as
the postman will deliver it.
**JUST MAKE SURE ALL THE ADDRESSES ARE CORRECT.**

Now the WHY part:
Out of 200 postings, say I receive only 5 replies (a very low example). So then
I made $5.00 with my name at #6 on the letter. Now, each of the 5 persons who just sent me $1.00 make the MINIMUM 200
postings, each with my name at #5 and only 5 persons respond to each
of the original 5, that is another $25.00 for me, now those 25 each
make 200 MINIMUM posts with my name at #4 and only 5 replies each, I
will bring in an additional $125.00! Now, those 125 persons turn
around and post the MINIMUM 200 with my name at #3 and only receive 5
replies each, I will make an additional $626.00! OK, now here is the
fun part, each of those 625 persons post a MINIMUM 200 letters with
my name at #2 and they each only receive 5 replies, that just made me
$3,125.00!!! Those 3,125 persons will all deliver this message to 200
newsgroups with my name at #1 and if still 5 persons per 200
newsgroups react I will receive $15,625,00! With an original
investment of only $6.00! AMAZING! When your name is no longer on the
list, you just take the latest posting in the newsgroups, and send
out another $6.00 to names on the list, putting your name at number 6
again. And start posting again. The thing to remember is: do you
realize that thousands of people all over the world are joining the
internet and reading these articles everyday?, JUST LIKE YOU are
now!! So, can you afford $6.00 and see if it really works?? I think
so... People have said, "e;what if the plan is played out and no
one sends you the money? So what! What are the chances of that
happening when there are tons of new honest users and new honest
people who are joining the internet and newsgroups everyday and are
willing to give it a try? Estimates are at 20,000 to 50,000 new
users, every day, with thousands of those joining the actual
internet.
Remember: play FAIRLY and HONESTLY and this will really
work.