I’m pretty excited that a feature my team worked on recently just launched. Hotmail now supports the i’m Initiative that was previously limited to Windows Live Messenger.
You can read all the details on the Hotmail blog.
What is the i’m Initiative?
The i’m Initiative is a Microsoft program where Microsoft shares a portion of their advertising revenue for everyday activities – sending IMs and emails. Hotmail and Messenger have ads, like all free web services, and Microsoft makes money when a customer sees an ad. The i’m Initiative has successfully raised over 1.4 million dollars since it got started in 2007. It used to be available only in Windows Live Messenger, and now the Hotmail team is glad to say that you’ll be able to raise money for the cause of your choice each time you send an email.
How do I get started?
Go to http://im.live.com to join. You can choose to participate in Messenger, Hotmail, or both and you can pick a different organization for each service or dedicate all your efforts to one cause – it’s entirely up to you! This program is currently available only to customers in the United States. Once you’re set up, you’ll raise money for your favorite cause every time you send an email or IM. It’s really easy. Once you join, there’s no extra time out of your day, you don’t have to pay any money, and you get to know that you’re taking a step towards making the world better. The power of the collective can be huge – think of the difference that could happen if everyone swapped out a few plastic grocery bags each week for a reusable bag or took one less car trip a week.
If you are a Hotmail user I hope that you sign up.
PS – once nice side affect of joining the i’m initiative is that if you are a free user, we no longer append the little tag-line at the bottom of your email. Instead we place a small graphic and text letting folks know you are participating in the i’m initiative.
Here is how the graphic appears:
