Why I’m Part of Bloggers Give Back

Do you see it? Do you see the shiny new badge on the right, the one called Bloggers Give Back? This is a movement started by a friend and fellow personal finance blogger (my personal finance blog is The Dog Ate My Wallet) Jana at Daily Money $hot. Bloggers tend to get very tied to their online communities (which is a good thing), but this is a movement focused on giving back to our local communities. I am proud of the way the PF blog community has embraced this idea , and just think Jana is incredible all around.
You can see my post about how I plan to follow the basic guidelines of the challenge at Giving Back on The Dog Ate My Wallet. But I am also posting the badge here and want to set some specific goals and promises to give back as they relate specifically to the pet blogging community.
I have a couple Life by Pets related side projects in mind for the next year, including a calendar (so really, almost a full year away- why couldn’t I have thought of this 1-2 months ago) and a possible 100 Words Project book using some of the pictures that I take at the local dog parks. My Bloggers Give Back commitment to you is that 10% of any money I make from those projects will be donated to local animal welfare organizations.
I plan to continue to highlight organizations that use service animals to help people both locally and throughout country, with monthly spotlight blog posts.
In addition, we intend to get more involved with the volunteer organization that maintains our favorite dog park this year. And, we are planning on fostering through a wonderful organization called Old Dog Haven. Our application is in. It has been accepted. We are just waiting to be matched with a dog.
Honestly, these are things I want to do, regardless of a badge on my blog or a public commitment, just like most of the folks out in pet blogger land are involved in their local pet communities in a myriad of ways. So why am I posting about it? Well, I like to give Jana the extra exposure as she is working toward becoming a full time blogger this summer, and I think it would be great if the world knew about the work bloggers are doing to give back to their communities. I think of it a lot like displaying the Kiwanis symbol (I am not a member, but I have friends who are), I am showing membership in an organization whose mission I believe in and whose members I am proud to know.
And now, I am inviting you to join. You don’t have to. This is not a high pressure recruitment drive. But Jana has said from the beginning, this is not a movement exclusive to the personal finance blogging world. Anyone can participate. We’re building a community. We would love it if some of you joined us.