Representatives from nine of the world’s most reputable non-profit cause organizations gathered today to announce their involvement in the i’m Initiative and to discuss the role technology is increasingly playing in their efforts to reach new audiences.

This new initiative connects nine of the world’s most effective organizations dedicated to social causes to Windows Live Messenger customers. When joining the program at http://im.live.com/, customers will be asked to select the cause organization they are most passionate about to benefit from donations generated from their conversations on Windows Live Messenger.

Every time a customer has a conversation using i’m, Microsoft shares a portion of the program’s advertising revenue with the participating i’m Initiative organization of his or her choice. While there is no set cap on the amount each cause can receive, Microsoft will make a minimum $100,000 guaranteed donation to each of the nine organizations during the first year of the program.

Designed to empower people to make a difference without spending a dime (only open the the USA at the moment), the i’m Initiative will help support causes that are confronting some of the world’s most urgent social issues. The i’m Initiative aims to help the organizations involved to broaden their reach in a sustainable and new way, allowing the millions of people already using Windows Live Messenger today to be a part of the solution.

To join the i’m initiative today, follow these steps in Windows Live Messenger 8.1.

1. From your Contacts window, click the arrow next to your name and select “Options”.

2. Next to your name, type one of the following codes, including the asterisk, for the cause you’d like to support.

Text Code	Cause
*red+u	American Red Cross
*bgca	Boys & Girls Club
*naf	National AIDS Fund
*mssoc	National Multiple Sclerosis Society
*9mil	ninemillion.org
*sierra	Sierra Club
*help	StopGlobalWarming.org
*komen	Susan G. Komen for the Cure
*unicef	The US fund for UNICEF

3. Click “OK” to complete the sign-up process. 

So I know quite a few of you have already put the i’m Initiative emoticon  in your name but I also know that there’s still plenty of you that haven’t joined the i’m Initiative cuase and don’t have the i’m Initiative emoticon  in your name, so let’s see if we can change that by tomorrow morning.

I’ll be checking tomorrow that you are making a difference! 😉