Kiva

We dare you: make someone's day just by sending them a pizza! This time of year is all about spreading cheer, and if you want to get in on the spirit of giving, just turn to the Internet for fun, creative ways to share the wealth.

From a pizza-giving subReddit to a shop-till-you-drop-for-a-cause online store, we've rounded up some fresh 21st century ideas to lend a helping hand for the holidays.

• Reddit's Random Acts of Pizza — This Reddit sub-community, as its name suggests, is all about random pizza giving. Redditers post an offer to give pizza or a request to receive pizza, and there are tons of reasons, ranging from touching to plain bizarre, why people are crazy about pie.

  There's this Pennsylvania dad who's left home alone with his daughter and is short on funds. And then there's this person offering a pie to the commenter with the best joke. There are no rules, just requests and offers, and it's a pretty amazing example of a bunch of humans getting together to help each other out in any way they can. The assistance subReddit works in the same way, but posters can ask for things besides pizza, like superhero capes for the students of Sandy Hook Elementary.

More amazing 21st century ways to give after the break.

If you haven't caught up to what I've been up to this month, read about how to start your own volunteering initiative at work, and ideas you can implement at the office. This week, I'll be featuring two of my favorite charities to celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving.

Micro . . . what?! Sure, the term microfinance may sound complicated, but their message is simple: giving loans to budding entrepreneurs in another part of the world who need a little leg up to get out of poverty. If you're familiar with the microfinance world, the name Kiva will often pop up, and if you were watching Oprah last Friday, you'd know it was one of her favorite things. Kiva is a nonprofit that provides an Internet platform for lenders to connect with microfinance institutions around the globe. But don't worry, you don't need match up to an Oprah Winfrey-like donation — even a $25 loan can make a difference. I talked to Kiva's CEO Matt Flannery, who told me more about the feel good nonprofit.

SavvySugar: Why do you think Kiva resonates with people?

Matt Flannery: I think people are naturally generous. It’s tough to figure out how to express our generosity. It’s tough to reach out and connect with another person. And charity is not that easy sometimes. It can seem like you don’t know where your money is going or it’s a big black hole. With Kiva, we allow you to express that natural generosity in a very personal way, which people connect with, because you get to see the other person in the opposite end of the loan, and that really helps people feel comfortable and motivated.

SS: Oprah featured Kiva as one of her favorite things for 2010. How did that affect your company?

MF: Well it’s always an incredible effect — it’s like just pouring kerosene over fire for Kiva. It happened three years ago, and I was just elated when I found out it was going to happen again because it’s great for our cause, and it’s great for Kiva, and we’re really thankful that Oprah supports stuff like this. What happens on a near-term basis is our traffic probably spikes up ten times. It’s ten times greater than any other day, and this was a particularly funny situation because we were partnering with Groupon to have our first ever Kiva Groupon.

To hear more about the female entrepreneurs Kiva helps, read on!