Digital Hearts for Charity: Tab for a Cause

Whether you have a special someone or not, Valentine’s Day is a perfect opportunity to think about the needs of people around us.

One of my favorite tools for charity is convenient, doesn’t take a bite out of my paycheck, and creates good from one of everyone’s least favorite things about the internet: advertisements. It’s called “Tab for a Cause.”

Tab for a Cause is a Google Chrome browser extension that loads ads every time you open a new tab. Each time you open a tab and load an ad, you get a heart. You can then “donate” the hearts you’ve built up to any of the charities “Tab for a Cause” partners with, giving you some options about which charities you want more of that ad revenue to go to.

For example, I’ve donated many of my hearts to Water.org, a charity with a simple but powerful mission and excellent financial, accountability, and transparency ratings on Charity Navigator. Other charities include Human Rights Watch, Conservation International, and more.

In addition to providing funding for charities, the page that “Tab for a Cause” loads when you open a new tab also has customizable productivity features, including notes and bookmarks.

“Tab for a Cause” is a great option for charitable-minded college students who spend a lot of time online but don’t have a lot of disposable income. “Tab for a Cause” users have raised nearly $700,000 for charity so far.