Claim: You can help disadvantaged women in America obtain free mammograms simply by clicking a button on a web site.
Status: True.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2000]
Let this be your good deed for today ... it only takes a second. Go to the site below. All you do is click a button and a woman gets a free mammogram at no cost to you. It is paid for by corporate sponsors (who gain advertising in the process because you see their logo). All you do is go to the site and click on the free button. It takes one-second. However, you're only allowed one donation so please pass the word. |
Origins: Over the last few years we've seen many a purportedly altruistic appeal circulate on the Internet, each one claiming you could donate money to a worthy cause or right some terrible injustice — at no cost to you — merely by taking some simple action, such as forwarding an
up.
At
Unlike the way things are explained in the
mammogram to a needy woman — it takes 45,000 clicks, not just one. Averaging 58,000 clicks a day, The Breast Cancer Site provides funding for approximately
Sponsors become involved with this site (and others like it) as a form of advertising and public relations and thus are willing to pay for their messages to be viewed by consumers. They pay CharityUSA.com, the parent entity of the site, on a per-click basis; CharityUSA.com directs 75% of the total ad revenue collected to the National Breast Cancer Foundation and keeps the remaining 25% to run the site. (The Breast Cancer Site is not a non-profit entity, so it shouldn't be confused with a charity even though it does direct a significant portion of its revenues to those in need. It exists to make a profit, and that it's still around proves it's succeeding at this.)
GreaterGood.com also allows visitors to initiate donations to several other causes via The Rainforest Site, The Animal Rescue Site, and The Child Health Site.
Other sites that offer similar aid to charities are:
Barbara "(m)aid to order" Mikkelson
Last updated: 8 October 2007
Sources: