Since I was only four when Exxon Valdez took place, I was no place to understand the largest U.S. oil spill in history at that time.

The latest estimates of oil spewed into the Gulf range from 17 to 27 million gallons of oil, while Exxon Valdez capped at 11 million gallons.

Ouch.

Why is this bad? Let’s put numbers from Exxon Valdez in perspective to try and fathom what is to come.

Scientists estimated mass moralities of 1000 to 2800 sea otters, 302 harbor seals, and seabird deaths of 250,000 within days after Exxon Valdez’s spill– and 12 years later they found approximately 20 acres of shoreline was still contaminated.

As you can see from past numbers, an oil spill twice as bad as Exxon Valdez, we've yet to witness the worst of it.

Right now, wildlife organizations need donations. Your help could be the optimism needed in this grim situation.The official number bird deaths from the Gulf  have been reported at 444, with 63 injured. Oil has hit 101 miles of Louisiana’s coast and we're aware of the ghastly amount that has yet to hit shore.

What’s the cost? Well, for Exxon Valdez clean up, values ranged from $20,000 to $300,000 dollars per marine mammal , $125 to $500 dollars per terrestrial animal, and $170 to $6,000 dollars for seabirds and eagles.

Please make a direct donation here – click on ‘fundraising’ and donate now to any of the organizations helping with relief efforts and working towards a long recovery.

- Amy Chait

Accepting change seems to be the wise recommendation we always hear – yet one of the hardest thing to embrace. Technology has dramatically changed our lives, quickly. It was not long ago I was listening to the tunes of dial-up and attempting to enter a full Nickelodeon chat room. The internet is a phenomenon that has put an immense amount of information at our finger tips, and expanded our social networks beyond family and friends we see on a daily basis.

Innovation creates a continuum of individual and societal metamorphosis that conditions us to appropriately adapt to our time. Philanthropy has slowly, but surely, begun shedding its shell to expose itself to the idea of 'creative philanthropy.'

Conventional philanthropy overly focuses on money, yet, the power of the Internet has allowed individuals of all ages to increase awareness and find opportunities to make impact outside of donations. Technology has empowered creative philanthropy to harness rich networks and effectively use communication as an essential tool to achieve desired outcomes.

All of this came up by reading AdvertisingAge's article of 'must-see cause-marketing' YouTube videos, only to show individuals do have the power to make an impact with a connection to the world wide web. The YourCause team happily watches our community make a difference in so many ways, letting us see the pros over the cons of  'social networks.'

-Amy Chait

Over the weekend I was happy to flip through the book "How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist: 330 Ways to Make a Difference in Your Home, Community, and World - at No Cost! " by Nicole Bouchard Boles and find that YourCause was highlighted in bold on pg. 119.

This is our first feature in a book and privileged to be a part of one that has gotten phenomenal reviews by Mark Farr (Points of Light Institute), Mary J. Blige (Founder F.F.A.W.N), Bill McKibben (Author, Deep Economy) etc.

We appreciate the mention and it’s things like this that motivate our small team to keep moving forward to truly empower individuals to do good all the time and share their inspirational stories to incite action among their networks.

You can purchase a copy here and can check out Nicole Bouchard Boles blog here!

- Amy Chait

Up until recently, I joked with the YourCause team about looking forward to the 'exclusive' problem of too many people using our application at once.  But the joke turned into all seriousness when, for the first time in April, increased site traffic began 'stressing' our servers, ultimately creating a slower user experience.  Literally, this issue meant YourCause reached a milestone of success by gaining substantial numbers in growth, which is a goal we set out to accomplish. Although it may seem as though the issue hindered client expectations, it's also because we met expectations that the issue occurred.
 
We all have high technological expectations.  Therefore, there's a 'hype' that comes with technology.  It must be fast, flawless, intuitive and much more to be labeled a success.  But we also know that there is a subsequent disappointment that typically happens with the introduction of new technologies.  Maybe you 'early adopters' remember Twitter's ongoing and frequent outages?  It can be argued that sometimes, to achieve exponential growth and optimization, you have to take one step back to move two steps forward. 
 
My message is simple:  a cycle occurs where supplier makes product, consumer sets high expectations, product is released and consumer is not completely satisfied.  Thus, product must swiftly adapt to meet expectations.  To put it more commonly, what's news today is history tomorrow.  We saw it most recently with the iPad, which was hyped up, released and didn't necessarily deliver.  People were left thinking 'how do I use this in my everyday life?'  Still, it's predicted that as the iPad shifts applications and price, it will become a modern household platform in addition to a device, meeting expectations of all.
 
We understand we must constantly improve our technology and come up with new, creative and innovative programs that meet expectations.   However, usually these expectations are so inflated that, once the technology is adopted, it enters a 'trough of disillusionment' state, failing to completely keep pace with the expectations of the user.  Fortunately, we responded quickly to our problem in April and thus, resolved the issue at hand (albeit with a few hiccups).  In the end, we reached a plateau of productivity that actually increased and evolved our applications to a whole new level. 
 
We can assure we will always attempt to meet expectations, but we can also assume that the natural cycle will return, and our platform will one day prove to be dated, relying on the very same expectations that continue to challenge us.  In the end, keep the expectations and we'll keep up with the pace, as long as all in favor overcome the hiccups together.

-Matthew Combs

Founder

*Make sure to designate to Nashville Flooding

Mother's Day arrives in about a week and I can bet you're scrambling to find a gift that hasn't already been given.  You've done the flowers, the jewelry, the clothes, etc.  So, this Mother's Day, why don't you give her something that doesn't go out of style?  Make a donation on her behalf and change someone elses life.  Spread the love!! After all, she'll be so proud she raised someone charitable and giving!

On YourCause.com you can dedicate your donations.  It's easy, simple, and takes less than five minutes!  You will also receive a receipt showing your dedication and amount given. 

Click on the charity name to learn more about the organization and dedicate a donation to your mother. 

• charity: water -  Just $20 can give one person clean water for 20 years.
• Sankara Eye Foundation - $30 gives the gift of sight to a blind or visually impaired child in India.
• Food for the Poor - $36 feeds a child for a year. $100 provides one computer workstation
• World Vision - $35 offers sexually exploited girls assistance like medical care and counseling
• Heifer International - $30 gives the gift of honey bees and the ability to provide a family with a flourishing business of cultivating honey and beeswax.

This is just the beginning of a list that lets you know where your gift goes! We encourage you to sift through our site and learn about an organization that is near and dear to your heart.  So, go ahead, make mom proud and have a wonderful Mother's Day.

- Lizette Romero