The Top 10 Facebook Charity Applications.

1) Good Samaritan - Good Samaritan is breaking the mold in the Facebook charity application world. Firstly, it has internet offers for products and services at a reduced price, or at a price savings due to getting a service for free for a period of time. Secondly, it has free marketing surveys that users can fill out, costing no more than a few minutes of their time. Every time a user completes an offer or a survey, a donation is made to the participating charity which that user selected! Payouts to charities will range from $.06 - $13.75, and are clearly marked as such next to each offer!(All charities involved can be found at charitynavigator.org)

2) iRipple - Ripple is a way of donating to a charity without spending any of your own money as well.(based upon their website ripple.org) Using PPC campaigns, it allows users to click on an advertisement, and then donates the proceeds from the advertisement to one of four charities. PPC campaigns have, on average, an extremely small payout. Most PPC campaigns average less than $.25, even as small as $.01 as a payout.(Two of the four charities are not found at charitynavigator.org) However, the application, and the parent website, have a lot of positive feedback from their users!

3) Good Search - A Yahoo powered search engine which allows them to donate a portion of the proceeds which they earn from searching to the charity that you choose. A major issue with this application is that it boast 45,000 charities & schools, but doesn't clearly disclose exactly how much of the proceeds are donated to these charities. This is a violation of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance guidelines, which almost any charity knows to avoid. This could potentially mean that the charities involved don't even know that they are involved, or that the application could get those charities in trouble in the long-run.

4) Social Vibe - An excellent charity application which creates a link between your social network and your www.socialvibe.com account! Social Vibe utilizes corporate sponsors, who donate money to your chosen charity recipient based upon the number of points that you generate daily on their site. Of course, you utilize their advertisements on your profile which announces that they are sponsoring your charity, so they are achieving some marketing goals from your participation. While the numbers are not clear to me yet as to how much is being donated, I definitely put this application high on the list based upon the credibility of the site and sponsors. I will also update donation information as it becomes available to me.

5) Charity Trivia - Trivia question charity application which donates 10 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program for each trivia question that you get right. The application seems to be working well, and legitimate with its clarity of its intent. However, some issues with trying to answer multiple questions in a row. The application overall has a good rating, plus a good purpose behind its use - feed the hungry people of the world!

6) Give Stream - This charity application allows you to choose from 14 different charities, and then donates a portion of proceeds from products that you buy from its Amazon Store. The donation amount is clearly indicated.(however, only two charities listed can be found at charitynavigator.org) The application has an amazing premise behind it, and it just needs a little design improvement.

7) Every Click - This charity application is also a PPC (Pay Per Click) business model, based out of the UK, which allows you to select a single charity, then they will donate money to that charity each time you use their search engine to search and click on search returns. They make their money from the PPC advertised and sponsored links. This definitely seems legitimate, but again PPC earnings are extremely small per click. The application is designed well, and it is simple to use.

8) Competition for a Cause - This is a simple charity application that is local to the Twin Cities area. Basically, local business owners are sponsoring an award amount, and users can vote within the application to see which team gets to choose how that award is donated. If you're not from the Twin Cities area, then having your voice heard when it comes time to choose may be difficult... But, it is a good concept!

9) Pennies at a Time - Here is an oddly configured shopping portal which donates to charities "pennies at a time" whenever you shop through their application. However, there is no clear donation amount, or as to which charities your efforts are benefiting...

10) New Year's Card - This charity application is an interesting one. You simply make a New Year's wish that you wish to come true in the world... Then, at a time not disclosed, a donation of $100 will be donated for every 1,000 wishes that belong to the charity that is sponsored by the most wishes...