In March 2007 Microsoft decided to give users even more of an incentive for using their Windows Live Messenger service. They started an initiative called I’m where part of the ad revenue would be shared from one of ten charities that you could pick from. Since the project’s inception chatty Windows Live users like yourself have managed to raise over $1.4 million, and the first year’s worth of money (totaling over $1.3 million) is already being distributed to the charities. As of August 2007 they had only raised $35,000, which means a lot of people have signed up for the program since then.
They didn’t mention specifically how much each of the ten charities would receive, but they did give a ballpark figure saying that each one will get over $100,000. That’s definitely not too shabby considering that it takes no additional effort on your part!
How do you join the I’m initiative? It’s very simple, and Ashley has actually already provided instructions on how to do so. The first thing that you’ll want to do, however, is pick which of the ten charities you want to support:
- American Red Cross
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America
- The Humane Society of the United States
- National AIDS Fund
- National MS Society
- ninemillion.org
- Sierra Club
- StopGlobalWarming.org
- Susan G. Komen for the Cure
- UNICEF
Give yourself a pat on the back if you are part of the program. You deserve it! 
[via Webware]
First I’ve heard of this – I should have started reading CN a year ago
I’m still a little miffed at the US-only charities, but better some than none at all.
Also, I’m not sure if anyone connected outside the US counts toward their total. Going to the “Join Now” tab on their page has a “What country are you in” question, as well as a “Why do we need to know” link. I clicked the link as was told:
“At this time, the i’m™ initiative is available only in the United States. You’re still welcome to download Windows Live™ Messenger; however, you will not be able to participate in the i’m initiative yet. Thank you for your interest.”
I can only assume they check my locale (I’m in France) based on IP address. It does seem daft, however, that there’s a drop-down for you to select your country from right next to it.
I read that they plan to expand the list of charities available soon, but I’m not sure if that means outside of the US. It would be sweet to see this become a global initiative, but as you said it’s hard to complain when they don’t have to be doing this at all.