What is GoodSearch?
We all have a cause we care about - whether it's finding a cure for cancer, saving the environment, finding homes for abandoned pets or so many other worthwhile endeavors. But what we don't all have is the time or money to support these efforts as much as we'd like. So, what if we could raise money for our favorite charities and schools by doing something we do every day — searching the Internet?
That's the question Ken Ramberg (the former founder of JOBTRAK, now a division of Monster.com) and JJ Ramberg (an MSNBC anchor and the former Director of Marketing at Cooking.com) asked themselves a few years ago. After realizing what a fraction of the $8 billion generated annually by search engine advertisers could do if it were directed towards organizations trying to make the world a better place, they launched GoodSearch in 2005.
GoodSearch is a search engine which donates 50-percent of its revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. It's a simple and compelling concept. You use GoodSearch exactly as you would any other search engine. Because it's powered by Yahoo!, you get proven search results. The money GoodSearch donates to your cause comes from its advertisers — the users and the organizations do not spend a dime!
F.A.Q.s
Last year search engines generated close to $8 billion in revenue from advertisers. We've developed a way to direct some of that money to the causes you care about most. It's easy ... every time you search the Internet at GoodSearch.com, your charity or school earns money and the more you search, the more they make. Add up the money generated from all your searches and those done by the millions of other people who we hope will use GoodSearch, and we can make a real difference to the people and causes that need funds most.
On the GoodSearch homepage, choose from thousands of organizations or add your favorite cause to our list.
Search the Internet just like you normally would — the site is powered by Yahoo!, so you'll get high-quality search results.
Fifty percent of the revenue generated from advertisers is shared with the charity, school or nonprofit organization of your choosing.
GoodSearch.com is powered by Yahoo! so you'll get high-quality search results!
Search engines make most of their money from companies that pay an advertising fee when users click on links during a search. At GoodSearch, we've developed a patent-pending way to track and direct these search-generated proceeds to charities. In other words, a portion of advertiser dollars (and not your own!) earned as a result of your search, are now passed along to the organization you've chosen to support.
No. GoodSearch provides people a way to support their favorite cause at no cost. The money comes from the GoodSearch advertisers.
GoodSearch is a search engine with a unique social mission which involves generously giving back to charity with every Web search. We direct a minimum of 50 percent of revenues (this currently equates to about a penny per search) to the nonprofits designated by our audience. Please note that image, video and site-specific searches are not included.
Other examples of socially-conscious companies which donate a percentage of their revenues or profits to good causes include Newman's Own, Ethos Water, Patagonia and Ben & Jerry's.
All of your searches will count toward donations except for the following: 1) image searches; 2) video searches; 3) "search this site" searches; 4) searches for URL's (i.e., search terms ending in .com, .org, .net, .edu); 5) searches to sites for which the URL is well known such as HotMail, ESPN, MySpace, Facebook, GMail, AOL, etc.; 6) searches for stock quotes; 7) searches for word definitions, and 8) any searches generated from fraudulent use of the site.
Set up your Computer!
1.
Select
Holy Counselor as your charity.
Go
to
www.goodsearch.com
and you
should see a box below the gray WHO
DO YOU GOODSEARCH FOR?
oval. Type Holy Counselor in that box where it says enter
your charity here...
and then click the verify button. Now all your GoodSearches will
raise money for our church. Note:
Your computer must be set up to allow cookies.
2. Make GoodSearch your default search engine in your web browser. Just click the link on the GoodSearch home page, Add GoodSearch to your IE, Firefox, or Mac toolbar. There is no need to download the GoodSearch toolbar. Scroll down to the instructions for your particular web browser and follow the easy instructions.
If you are using an earlier version of Internet Explorer than IE7 you may need to manually add GoodSearch to your browser toolbar.
1. Use this link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/searchguide/en-en/default.mspx?dcsref=http://runonce.msn.com/runonce2.aspx
2.
Copy the following text:
http://www.goodsearch.com/Search.aspx?Keywords=TEST
and paste
this into the URL box
in the yellow area on the right of that screen, line 3. Enter the name
GoodSearch in line 4 and then click install. Check the box for make
this my default search provider and click Add Provider.
Need Help? Click here to send an e-mail and ask one of our church's volunteers to help you get set up.