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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
12.23.2005 ET
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CSR News from:
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Yahoo! Inc.
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News Category:
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Yahoo! Marks Inauguration of ''Cyber Giving Week''
Overall Online Donations Expected To Reach Record Highs in 2005
Yahoo! Makes Donating Easy During Biggest Online Giving Week of the Year;
Connects Donors to Charities for Last Chance to Give in 2005
(CSRwire) SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), a leading global
Internet company, today announced that it is kicking off Cyber Giving Week
on December 25, 2005, in recognition of the significant growth in online
charitable donations as well as the trend of year-end spikes in giving. In
partnership with Network For Good, the Internet's leading charitable
resource, Yahoo! is launching a Cyber Giving Week microsite (http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/)
that provides donation links to a variety of charities as well as resources
and tools for making decisions about contributions and maximizing annual
tax breaks.
Recent data indicate that online donations have increased dramatically
year-over-year, with contributions reaching annual highs during the last
days of the year. According to The Kintera/Luth Nonprofit Trend Report
(June 2005), U.S. households donated more than $3 billion online in 2004,
representing an estimated increase of nearly 60 percent over online giving
in 2003. The same study finds that the Internet played a role in
influencing more than 65% of donors before making a donation. In addition,
data from non-profit organizations over the past several years indicate up
to 40 percent of giving occurs during the month of December, with the
final days accounting for the heaviest donations.*
The microsite provides a number of resources that can help users choose
and evaluate charities, determine how much to donate based on
tax-deduction thresholds, understand current tax breaks and find coverage
from Yahoo! News and around the Web on the latest philanthropy and
volunteer issues. Yahoo! will promote Cyber Giving Week from December 25th
through December 31st throughout the Yahoo! network, including its
homepage, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Education, Yahoo! Messenger,
broadband portal pages for SBC Yahoo! and Verizon Yahoo! , and keyword
integration in Yahoo! Search. Donations will be facilitated by Network For
Good, which will allow users to contribute to ten pre-selected charities as
well as search for charities in their local communities.
"At a time when the Internet is playing an increasingly vital role in
facilitating charitable contributions, we want to make it as simple as
possible for our users to donate to their favorite charities," said Meg
Garlinghouse, director of Yahoo! for Good, the company's community
relations program that connects users with products and services that
inspire them to make a positive impact. "The Internet facilitates a
real-time sense of gratification and also allows people to quickly and
efficiently maximize their annual tax breaks in this last week of
eligibility. We're proud to offer resources and access to charities to
make giving even easier during this crucial period."
"This year represented a record year on our own network for charitable
giving," added Garlinghouse. "Yahoo! users contributed more then $55
million in support of Hurricane Katrina alone. However, we know that our
users are passionate about causes and hope they'll take Cyber Giving Week
as inspiration to do even more good."
* Source: Network For Good, 2004
Since its inception in 2001, Network for Good, which allows users to
research and contribute to more than one million charities, has been
witness to the growing trend in online charitable donation.
"More and more people are doing their giving with a few clicks of a mouse
rather than writing and mailing checks because it's faster, easier and
more cost effective for the charities they support. That's especially
true in December, when people make most of their donations," said Bill
Strathmann, CEO of Network for Good. "This December, we're seeing the
online giving trend on a remarkable scale with double last year's
contributions, despite the fact that people already gave so much online
for disaster relief this year. We applaud Yahoo! for helping to encourage
this outpouring of online giving and ensuring more resources get to many
charities that need our help more than ever."
Yahoo!'s Cyber Giving Week program spotlights a broad selection of
philanthropies, spanning the spectrum from global outreach to local
impact. The organizations include Habitat for Humanity, DonorsChoose, St.
Jude Children's Research Hospital, Mr. Holland's Opus, Fisher House, Save
the Children, Humane Society of the United States, Elizabeth Glaser
Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and the World Wildlife Fund.
Yahoo!'s in-kind advertising donation for Cyber Giving Week is valued at
more than $2 million, which includes promotion on its home page, the most
trafficked site on the Web, on both December 25th and December 30th. Cyber
Giving Week ends on December 31, 2005.
About Network for Good
Network for Good (www.networkforgood.org) is the
Internet's leading charitable resource, an easy-to-use, secure website
that includes detailed listings of more than one million U.S. charities
and a searchable database of more than 34,000 volunteer opportunities.
Network for Good works directly with nonprofits to help them leverage the
Internet as a tool for fundraising and volunteer recruitment. Founded in
2001 by AOL, Cisco Systems and Yahoo!, Network for Good is an independent,
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
About Yahoo! for Good
Yahoo! for Good is committed to making a difference in the world by
empowering our users and employees with products and services that inspire
them to make a positive impact. Find more information at http://brand.yahoo.com.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most
trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! seeks to provide
online products and services essential to users' lives, and offers a full
range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with
Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale,
California.
# # #
Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of
Yahoo! Inc.
All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their
respective owners.
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