If you're constantly checking your cellphone, use it to make a change. Many local, national and international charities accept donations of $5 to $10 via text message. The donation is added onto your cellphone bill. To find out if your favorite charity accepts text donations, check the running list on the Mobile Giving Foundation's website.
And while you're catching up with friends on Facebook or Twitter, check for charity deals you can share with them. This past October, Discovery Bay Games and the Make-A-Wish Foundation introduced "10,000 Likes to Support Wishes" campaign. Throughout the month, the company donated $1 to the charity, up to $10,000, for every Like the campaign received on its Facebook page. There are also multiple websites that donate money, food or supplies for every click you give them on their site.
Several credit card issuers also have set up charitable giving Facebook pages, such as American Express and Chase. American Express' Members Project Facebook page allows visitors to donate to a cause using their card or rewards points. Chase's site allows its Facebook friends to vote for the charity that will receive a donation from the company.
"We were able to leverage a community to direct our philanthropic giving and not to philanthropies that we thought were worthy but to the ones the community thought were worthy," says Matt Kane, general manager of Chase Freedom portfolio.