Last Friday, I mentioned that I was going to donate 10% of my blogging income each month to charity. I had a few bloggers respond in a very favorable manner to that post and I started to think. Sometimes when I think, it’s dangerous. Other times when I think, something good comes out of it. I’m hoping that this falls into the latter category.

For 2012, I’ve created Bloggers Give Back. I don’t want to say that it’s a challenge or a pledge or a promise; those are all too harsh and make it seem like I’m coercing my fellow bloggers into doing something they don’t want to do. Bloggers Give Back is more of a decision to keep the giving spirit alive all year round.  Many people are crazy generous from Thanksgiving-Christmas but after the new year starts, I’ve noticed that those same people (myself included) get so focused on their own goals that they lose the giving spirit. Bloggers Give Back is a way to remind ourselves not to forget that spirit.

Every idea presents its own set of challenges. Bloggers Give Back is not exempt from that. A few of the challenges:

• Deciding on which organizations
• Collecting money from participating bloggers
• How much money to donate since 10% is a bit off-putting for a lot of bloggers
• Accountability to readers and followers of the challenge

I’ve spent a great deal of time trying to figure out how to handle those challenges. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

• Selecting an organization—Instead of picking one organization each month, I’m going to pick an area of focus (which will be detailed in a post on the last day of each month for the upcoming month and on a printable calendar. Once I figure out how to do that). It will be up to the participating blogger to select an organization within that area. It can be a national organization, a local branch of a national organization or it can be a strictly local agency. I’m partial to smaller, local agencies because they don’t typically get the large dollar donations and genuinely appreciate the support.
• Collecting money—I’m not going to collect money from anyone. I don’t want anyone to think I’m going to misuse or misspend their money so instead of setting up a large pool, I’m going to ask that each participating blogger make the donation directly to the organization of her (or his) choice.
• How much money—I realize that 10% isn’t possible for everyone. Instead of having a fixed amount like 10%, I’m asking that each participating blogger pick an amount that is doable for him or her. If your financial situation improves or backslides, please feel free to alter the donation amount. Additionally, if you want to participate but don’t have the money on a monthly basis, you can do so in other ways like volunteering, donating goods (ex., old towels/blankets to an animal shelter), or using some of these ways to give back from your computer.  I don’t want to lock you in to a certain amount; I just want you to do what you can (I know that makes me sound like a telethon but it’s true).
• Accountability—Other than just saying “believe me, I did it”, it’s hard to be accountable to the readers for this decision.  What I plan to do is, every month, write a post describing the organization I selected and how much I contributed.  The amount will fluctuate since my blogging income fluctuates but you’ll be able to figure out how much I earned each month, so it’s like a little bonus for you, too! If you’re participating, please do the same (you don’t have to disclose the amount but please detail the organization and give a little description as to why you selected it).

The only other things I ask is that if you’re participating, please let me know and please place a grab button on your site (the code is on the side bar. And I did it myself!) . This is not limited to personal finance bloggers so if you’re a food blogger, humor blogger, mommy blogger or a blogger who prefers not to be labeled, feel free to participate.

I’m not expecting to change the entire world through Bloggers Give Back. I just want to make a difference the best way I can. Will you join me?