This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the Minnesota Blogger Conference in Minneapolis.  I did learn some new things at the conference and met some new local bloggers, but that is not the purpose of today’s post.  This event incorporated a featured charity to support.  Missy Berggren (aka The Marketing Mama) reached out to me to help select a charity to feature.  Read Indeed was selected because bloggers write words and the books collected contain words, plus it is just a great charity.  Bloggers brought new and used books to donate and a local photographer, Glimpses of Soul Photography, took headshots and monetary donations to Read Indeed.  The early results were tabulated at over 100 books and at least $325 collected.

If you plan events or gatherings, I encourage you to bring a charity or giving back component to the event.  It is easy for participants to bring a donation to a local organization and each of those donations come together to make a bigger difference.  In addition, this helps spread the word about a local charity. 

Please comment with your ideas or examples of ways you have incorporated giving back into your events.

Update: The final count was 201 books and $370 in donations to Read Indeed.