can i'make a difference?

For our patrons who choose to use hotmail for their email I have recently learned that in the options menu of your hotmail account you can choose to give to one of 10 worthy charities with every email you send and it doesn't cost you a dime. Well, not directly anyway. The program is funded through the businesses who advertise with the "i'm" program. So if you buy products from those businesses, you're paying for the advertising. But if you believe in that business and their mission it might be worth it to you to make a difference and bring awareness to your cause. Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with the organization of your choice from a selection of some of the world's most effective organizations dedicated to social causes.

After one year, the i’m Initiative, which launched in March 2007, raised $1.3 million for 10 of the world’s most effective social causes, with each charity receiving a minimum of $100,000. No cap is set on the amount donated to each organization, so the more customers who communicate using Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Hotmail, the more money Microsoft donates toward addressing some of the world’s most urgent social issues.