My longtime friend Frank Nichols told me about his pro-bono client Charity Water that provides clean drinking water to families in other parts of the world. I looked into it and they are both legit and very efficient.

They have a program in which people like me can “donate” their birthday. Friends (or enemies) can donate a bit each to help pay for a safe water well in lieu of buying a birthday card or whatever. Since each of us basically bathes in gallons of crystal clear drinking water every day without even thinking about it, it seems like a worthy cause.

Every penny of the money raised will directly fund clean water projects in developing countries. Even better, charity water will show us exactly which projects we funded once they've been fully completed (which takes about 18 months). That means we'll know the locations and names of the communities we helped.

A big donation is NOT important. The key is a lot of people pooling their money to make a big difference. What do you say?