Holiday Watch: Random Acts of Kindness and Photos With Santa

December 9, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute

Yahoo is hoping to spark “a ripple effect of kindness” this holiday season with its new “You In?” campaign.

From the campaign’s Web site, participants can post status updates about random acts of kindness they perform to their Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter networks.

Among the good deeds recorded so far: pulling weeds at a local school, calling a friend who was just diagnosed with cancer, and giving clothes and toys to a family that has taken in children in need of help. The acts of kindness are displayed on an interactive map, which the company hopes will inspire more selfless actions.

The site also includes links to Network for Good, GlobalGiving, and DonorsChoose for people who want to make a charitable donation.

In other holiday news, Best Friends Animal Society is enlisting the North Pole’s help to spread the word about its year-end mobile-giving campaign.

On Monday evenings through December 21, shoppers in 144 malls across the country have the opportunity to get their pets photographed with Santa Claus.

Signs at St. Nick’s Pet Pics locations describe the animal charity’s mission, and the malls are broadcasting a video appeal that asks people to donate $5 by sending a text message on their cellphones.

About the Author

NICOLE WALLACE

Features Editor

Nicole Wallace is features editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy. She has written about innovation in the nonprofit world, charities’ use of data to improve their work and to boost fundraising, advanced technologies for social good, and hybrid efforts at the intersection of the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, such as social enterprise and impact investing.Nicole spearheaded the Chronicle’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast and reported from India on the role of philanthropy in rebuilding after the South Asian tsunami. She started at the Chronicle in 1996 as an editorial assistant compiling The Nonprofit Handbook.Before joining the Chronicle, Nicole worked at the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs and served in the inaugural class of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps.A native of Columbia, Pa., she holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University.