Six Lazy Things You Can do For Charity

It's important to do your part, right? If TV and movies have taught us anything, it's really key, where you can, to put in a little effort for charity. Y'know - feed the world. Make it a better place. For you and for me and indeed the entire human race. But here's what Michael Jackson didn't understand - it's also really important to conserve your precious energy. Philanthropy can be extraordinarily exhausting and it's time someone gave the lazy man (or woman, hammocks are entirely gender neutral) a chance to help everyone out. Without, y'know, exerting themselves unduly. Luckily for you, I've compiled six easy ways that you can make a difference without breaking a sweat.

• If You Jingle Make it Rain

There is nothing more unattractive than a man with pockets full of loose change. You can recognize the loping gait of the small change holder from miles away, their gangly unbalanced posture, their pockets bulging and jingling. Friends, they are encumbered. Women shrink from their sweaty copper-y smelling hands in rage and disgust. This is all fairly easily remedied however. Just empty out all your awful coins into the nearest charity box. Don't give it to a homeless guy, he does not want your pity or pocket sag – go paper or go home, you cheapskate.Better yet, consider a wideawake drawer, keep your change for a year and make one of our aid workers smile for Christmas

• Make Your IPhone an Activism Machine.

Charities are really getting in or the whole social media thing and there are plenty of apps that help make taking action super easy. Consider tweeting, sharing and liking and why not enrolling in programs that point funds to worthy causes. For us programs like Good Search do a world of difference you can sign a petition and encourage your friends to do the same. And you can do this in the bath, or sitting at a bus station. Or in the time it takes to make a cup of tea. Then you can Tweet about it, possible taking a photograph of yourself, your right arm extended up like a hero, your cheekbones impeccable in this light.

• Volunteer at a Charity Shop/Thrift Store

Granted, this one is a bit more effort but you'll find it pays dividends. Yes, it involves retail work for free and perhaps you didn't see yourself as a working for free kind of person, but hear me out. Charity shop workers get access to some of the most exciting and weird stuff that Western civilization has to offer. And since they can't sell it on, you'll end up never paying for underwear again. Just make sure to give it a couple of goes in the washing machine. I'm sure it'll be fine. And take a look at yourself, do you think you're so fancy you won't wear a dead guy's underwear?

• Donate Your Own Bag of Weirdness

Here's a social experiment. Open your wardrobe. Sweep the base. Look at your new-found treasures. Ask yourself if you could live without any of it. Try and be a bit Buddhist about it all, especially those polo shirts. You could send them on to a better place. And that uncracked copy of Eat, Pray, Love? Time to Let. It. Go. Spoiler: materialism is bad, Julia Roberts loves ice-cream. If you're having trouble being generous, spend an idle five minutes imagining the joy the weird stuff you don't care about will bring a random stranger who has been looking for that very thing their whole entire life. You could make that happen. You have the power, you have the plastic sack.

• Do a Sponsored Sit Very Still

This might require a bit of charisma. People are usually a little more enthusiastic to sponsor sporting events or feats of endurance. However, think about the possibilities Just Giving being so easy to use and with a snappily filmed go-viral video filmed on your phone to persuade the skeptical, you could be quids in and with a perfect excuse to eat pizza and re-watch every season of Battlestar Galactica. This could be an important time of re-evaluation for you, maybe just the thing you need. And it's all in a good cause, right?

• Visit the Click-a-Day Websites

Y'know the ones with little games that donate food or aid to worthy causes with every click (the money comes from sponsors greedy for your eyeballs) – this is next to no effort, it's negative effort and you can feed the hungry with an infinitesimal finger movement. You rarely have this much power. Try not to let it go to your head.Or how about some couponing for good. WideAwake International is a partner of Common Kindness, If you enroll each coupon you print results in a small donation to help us help aid workers around the globe

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• Photo credit - kikfoto

Clara Menzies is a comedian and a blogger for Third Sector. She is feeding the hungry in her underwear right now and happily sharing with her friends at wideawake.org.