How to Make a Difference Right Now Without Leaving the House

Our staff has been working from home for weeks now, keeping the Internet Archive up and running from a variety of remote locations. In the midst of all our video calls, email chains, and team chats, one theme keeps reoccurring: gratitude. We’re grateful for all of the donors who give so generously to us time and time again; we’re grateful for all of the teachers who write us with their suggestions and kind words of encouragement; we’re grateful for all of the Dead Heads who upload live shows and keep us staff entertained; we’re grateful for our partners and colleagues.

Most importantly, we are grateful that our community supports us and helps us grow. We are grateful for you

In the past few months we’ve received countless messages from our community asking “How can I help?”. People everywhere are wondering how, during these turbulent times, they can make a positive impact on the world without leaving their homes. Some folks have offered to make a donation in support of what we do, and we’re always grateful for the help! But for those who might not be able to donate right now, or who already have and wish they could do more, there are a few different ways you can lend a hand. Here are some easy ways to help the Internet Archive if you have limited time, money, mobility, or energy:

Matching Gifts
Have you donated to the Internet Archive recently? Help your gift go even further! Many companies offer matching gift programs as part of their benefits packages to employees. These organizations may be willing to double or even triple the value of your charitable gifts. Have you made a donation this year that might qualify? Curious to see if your company provides this benefit? To find out, visit our Matching Gifts page and enter your company’s name in the search box. 

Better World Books Roundup Program
There’s nothing like a good book to whisk you off and help wile away the hours while stuck inside. When you buy a book from Better World Books, you have the option of rounding up your purchase to support the Internet Archive. Since we launched this partnership back in December 2019, these roundups have resulted in $11,000 for the Internet Archive! A little bit certainly goes a long way. To our friends at Better World Books and to all who have ‘rounded up’ 10 cents here and 45 cents there, thank you. To wander their digital bookshelves for your next book purchase, visit the Better World Books website.

Amazon Smile
Fresh veggies, canned goods, dish soap, the elusive toilet paper…many people are doing most of their shopping these days using delivery apps like Amazon. Did you know that Amazon Smile gives back .5% of every purchase you make to the participating non-profit of your choice?  If you find yourself hitting their “virtual checkout” button more often, make sure you do so with Amazon Smile! And if you decide to make the Internet Archive the beneficiary, we’d be ever so grateful. To sign up and support us, visit: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-3242767

BAT Brave Attention Tokens
We love Brave, the browser that lets you tip the websites you love and has the Wayback Machine natively built right into their browser! If you are a Brave Browser user and would like to learn more about its tipping program (and to throw a couple of nickels our way) you can do so here: https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021123971-How-do-I-tip-websites-and-Content-Creators-in-Brave-Rewards-

Donate Books
Looking for a forever home for all those books that no longer spark joy? Look no further than Better World Books. Every book they receive will be resold, donated, recycled… or digitized and added to the Internet Archive, so that readers everywhere can enjoy it. All books (in good condition) are welcome! Visit https://www.betterworldbooks.com/go/donate to find a dropbox location near you. 

Host a Facebook Fundraiser
Is your birthday coming up? Or looking for a good way to spread the word about the Internet Archive to friends and family? Why not try out hosting a fundraiser on Facebook! To learn more, visit https://www.facebook.com/fund/internetnetarchive/

Spread the Word!
One simple way to support us is by using the Archive and spreading the word to your friends and family. We don’t have an advertising or marketing team, so we definitely appreciate all the help we can get with promotion. If the Wayback Machine saved your website or you found a cool collection that made your day, tell a friend! You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We’ve got a once a month newsletter you can join, and make sure to bookmark our blog!

Thanks for helping us out! Your support helps journalists, teachers, researchers, high school students, kindergarteners, PhD candidates, genealogists, old time radio enthusiasts, Dead Heads, podcasters, developers, and readers of all ages get the information they want, the information they need, and the information they love. We thank you for all your contributions, big and small. Every little bit (and byte) counts. 

13 thoughts on “How to Make a Difference Right Now Without Leaving the House

  1. Justin Luth

    Katie – thanks so much for this post. Your post has given me great food for thought !

  2. Carl

    The Better World Books donation boxes do not, in fact, exist, at least in my area. They’re still on the map, just not in the actual parking lots. I mean, I’ve only checked a couple, but what with never leaving the apartment unless I have to because pandemic, I can’t easily go interstate to look for them.

  3. wptarahcom

    rld Books donation boxes do not, in fact, exist, at least in my area. They’re still on the map, just not in the actual parking lots. I mean, I’ve only checked a couple, but what with never leaving the apartment un

  4. ایران نوا

    I’ve only checked a couple, but what with never leaving the apartment unless I have to because pandemic, I can’t easily go interstate to look for them.

  5. Home Shaastra

    This is a wrost time ever we have seen in our lives. People are making a huge difference by not leaving their house. I am sure we all will fight with this pandemic together and win over it.

  6. Giles

    I would love to be able to use my Amazon Smile to help Archive.org but there doesn’t seem to be a way of doing that from my UK Amazon account. If you can get that fixed, you’ll get my money! Meanwhile, I’ll keep donating directly via PayPal.

  7. Pingback: Help the Internet Archive – Pete Cogle's Podcast Factory

  8. Sohail Khan

    Done. I’ve donated because Wikipedia is source of information for millions of people from many unpreviliged societies like that of mine. It should live on. Cheers

  9. charles saini

    You guys have a treasure trove of Elliott Smith and you ask so nicely That alone warrants another 5 dollars.

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