You don't have to read too many different articles on iMedia Connection to realise that 2007 was another record-breaking year for interactive marketing. The evidence for an imminent tipping point is becoming increasingly clearer: in November, the IAB in New York announced that online ad spending topped US$5.3B in Q3, a stellar 25.3 percent increase over the previous year, which should bring an annual run rate for 2007 of over US$20B, at last.

There's no doubt; many of us in this industry have done very well thanks to the revived interest and growth of online commerce and advertising. However, at this time of the year, it's always nice to pause momentarily and consider those less fortunate. Here are what I believe are some of the best innovations in 2007 of how the interactive industry can support those in need.

Like many of you, our agency has a history of donating our creative studio's resources to developing pro-bono websites for charitable organisations, enabling them to increase their reach to stakeholders and donors. I'm particularly proud of the site BLUE launched for the Tabitha Foundation, supporting those in need of better housing in Cambodia. However, there are some fantastic examples of good-old-fashioned internet entrepreneurialism and disruptive business models being applied to beneficial purposes. I think these may help inspire you to push your charitable interactive efforts further than merely donating time and sites.

Here are my top five favourite online charitable interactive innovations for 2007:

#1 - The BOGO model
This year saw the rise of the "Buy One Give One" model, which made charitable donations of goods a feel-good part of a motivated purchase decision. One of the biggest barriers in any fund raising/ donation drive is the gap between motivating the donor, and their actually acting on that motivation. The longer the gap, the greater the likelihood that they will forget or choose not to act. What the BOGO model does is to eliminate that gap by bundling the donation with the purchase. The best example of this is with the One Laptop Per Child programme, which offered their 'formerly-$100 laptops" to the general public for $399, and donated one to a child for every unit sold. Within just 50 days, they 'sold' 150,000 units purely online.

The relationship between the item purchased and the item donated need not be one-to-one though. Online fashion retailer Tam & Rob decided to donate a Sari to women in the community where their clothes are manufactured in India, for every item ordered through their site. The same concept could be extended to many different products/ campaigns.

#2 - The charity mall
Many of us have spent a lot of time in the past year(s) helping clients to develop robust affiliate marketing programmes to extend their distribution reach and find new sources of customers across the internet. However, there is a developing movement on the net that essentially turns this notion on its head and leverages the affiliate networks to do good through charitable donations. By aggregating several online retailers into "charity malls", these groups encourage customers to slightly change their buying behaviour and make their purchase with Amazon, GAP, etc. via their mall. They then take the affiliate fee paid by the destination retailer and donate it to charity. The end result is that the consumer gets the same goods they want, through the same retailer, at the same price, but they essentially pressure the retailer into donating up to 15 percent of the sale price to a charitable organisation. You could argue that the large retailers are the 'losers' in the equation, but they don't dare block these type of programmes as the bad press would be substantial. Some of my favourite charity malls are: iGive, Care2, and Good Buying – with sites like these, there's no sense in ever buying direct again.

#3 - Kiva
Kiva is the eBay of microfinance. This amazingly successful website has taken Mohammad Yunus' concept of providing very small loans to local entrepreneurs in developing countries, and brought it online. By logging on to http://www.kiva.org/, anyone can view the details of various entrepreneurs around the world trying to start or grow their small businesses. There's everything from barbers and taxi drivers to clothing shops and charcoal sellers. Pick the one (or more) that you connect with and you can instantly sign up to contribute to their business loan for as little as US$25. Kiva's partners will distribute the monies, and then track the loan performance over time. Much like Yunus' Grameen Bank, Kiva has an amazingly low default rate. When your loans are repaid, you can choose to withdraw your funds or re-loan them to another entrepreneur. At the beginning of 2007, Kiva had loaned less than US$1m, one year later that figure is now closer to $18m with the average loan taking less than one day to fulfil. Public attention in the USA from people like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton have helped Kiva hit their current levels of over 28,000 loans in almost 40 different countries.

#4 - FreeRice.com
How's this for a simple idea? Create a sticky (pardon the pun) application that keeps people churning page views on your website, sell advertising on a cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) basis and donate all the funds to charity. Easy enough right? That's exactly what John Breen did with http://www.freerice.com/. He created a simple game that teaches new vocabulary, and through that, has generated millions of page views in just the first three months. The site donates "20 grains of rice" to the UN World Food Program for every word played. He claims that has added up to more than 12 Billion grains of rice, or 4,000- 50 kilogram bags, already.

#5 - eBay giving works
OK, so this one isn't new to 2007 but it's still a great idea. In 2003, eBay created the ability for their online auction sellers to donate a percentage of the proceeds generated from the sale of their items to a charitable organisation of their choice. In 2007, eBay crossed the US$100m mark in donations, with over 10,000 charities available for sellers. Another great example of taking a simple consumer interaction/ transaction, and – by putting it online – creating the opportunity to share the benefit with those in need.

So, as you start the new year, I challenge you to think of new and interesting ways that your organisation can leverage your interactive marketing efforts for the greater good in 2008. How are you going to make a difference?

Happy New Year, and best wishes to you and yours.