Still, there are organizations such as Kiva, The Extraordinaires or SocialVibe and many others that do turn user microactions and technology to affect change and do good in very tangible ways. Those are just three of the tech nonprofit or philanthropic organizations I can think of at the moment, but we at RWW would love to know more. Tell us in the comment what your favorite tech nonprofit is and why.

SocialVibe is a company that helps brands and users create positive social change. In a typical SocialVibe setup, a brand "sponsors" users, who take small actions and engagements to raise money for the charity of their choice. In some ways, it's kind of like a broader-in-scope version of The Hunger Site, which gets advertisers to shell out cash to feed hungry people when users click around the site.

And The Extraordinaires is a program we just recently discovered while finding out how to help our readers use their personal time and online actions to help folks in Haiti. This site allows organizations to create missions. Users can complete micro-tasks from their mobile devices or computers toward those missions. Currently, the site has around 50 participating organizations and about 6,000 members who have completed in excess of 35,000 micro-tasks. Missions range from mapping safe places for children to play to helping first-aid responders reduce fatalities.

But there are many ways tech can be used to help others, not just the social media-focused, crowdsources companies we've mentioned here. For example, Inveneo helps to give access to information and communications technologies, including phones, computers and Internet access, to people in remote parts of developing countries. And there are many organizations focusing on getting tech hardware into the hands of those who need it, including students and injured veterans.

We'd love to know more about similar projects and organizations, whether large or small, new or longstanding. In this open thread of comments, please tell us your favorite nonprofit or philanthropic tech organization and let us know what they do. And please spread the good word and invite others to share, as well!

Launched into public beta in Febraury, 2008, SocialVibe has partnered with numerous charitable organizations, including Stand Up To Cancer and actress Holly Robinson Peete and NFL quarterback Rodney Peete's hollyrod4kids initiative which focuses on activism and advocacy surrounding issues affecting children. In addition, SocialVibe has supported causes that include: charity:water, Direct Relief International, Children's Miracle Network, Donors Choose, Invisible Children, One Laptop Per Child, Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Surfrider Foundation, and World Wildlife Fund, and others. In total, there are 27 charities that have benefited from this application.

Now, with over $100,000 raised, there's proof that this concept does work and there's really no reason not to sign up unless you just shun advertising in all forms. But when the simple act of adding a widget to your profile page can help saves lives or save our planet, it's hard to find much fault with the app. You can sign up for SocialVibe here.

In exchange for displaying the ads on their social networking profiles, users are rewarded with points. The more views or the longer an advertising badge stays up on a site, the more points users earn. Some sponsors also offer prizes for anyone who displays their ad widget. While users are earning points and prize drawing entries, a charity of their choice is earning cash. It sounds like a good deal for everyone involved, and it seems to be working pretty well -- most charities on the site have raised at least a couple of thousand dollars, and will continue to be able to do so as long as SocialVibe can demonstrate a good ROI for advertisers.

While there's something a little odd about a site that lets you endorse Nike while simultaneously raising money to fight child labor, there is a more pressing concern. SocialVibe specifically encourages users to put its advertising widgets on MySpace and Facebook, but both companies prohibit that sort of use by users in their terms of service.

• From Facebook: "You understand that except for advertising programs offered by us on the Site (e.g., Facebook Flyers, Facebook Marketplace), the Service and the Site are available for your personal, non-commercial use only."
• From MySpace: "Prohibited Content includes, but is not limited to, Content that, in the sole discretion of MySpace ... involves commercial activities and/or sales without prior written consent from MySpace such as contests, sweepstakes, barter, advertising, or pyramid schemes."

Because SocialVibe's business model relies almost exclusively on the ability for its ad widgets to be spread virally across social networks, acceptance by those networks will be crucial to its success or failure.