I’m a big fan of the various trackers out there. I’m also a fan of making the world a better place. I’m also a sysadmin so intrinsically lazy. I haven’t yet figured out how to bot my way to a studleyrific body yet, but I have figured out a few things that allow me to donate to charities without actually doing anything I wasn’t already doing anyway using my FitBit and my FuelBand (yes, I’m still wearing both — I’m like Brett Favre making up my mind here). So here are a few sites I’ve been tinkering with:
- EveryMove: This app is trying to do too much. But it also does a lot. Go figure. You can earn “rewards” using this app, put your insurance carrier in, add your employer (I’m guessing for emergency contacts in case you get wiped out on a run?!?!), put your gym in, integrate with Twitter and Facebook, use the app as a social network instead and most importantly for this article, earn rewards that are donations to one of a few different causes. Integrates with Foursquare so you get “points” for going to the gym, FitBit, Moves, Nike+ (running, not FuelBand) and MyFitnessPal as well.
- Nexercise: As with the above app, you work out and opt to donate your points. But, this one isn’t integrated with all the wearables, so I don’t use it nearly as much. You manually enter your workouts and then they credit you with points, which are redeemable for a number of things, including donations to causes.
- Earndit: This is a site, not an app. You can integrate with FitBit, Moves, Nike+ (running) and FourSquare to track trips to the gym. Use points and challenges to donate to charity.
- GoFitCause: This isn’t an app, it’s a site. A World Fit For Kids! (WFIT) provides purposeful physical activity and action-learning opportunities that help youth develop the knowledge, skills and confidence required to make healthy choices that last a lifetime. Basically “pledges” your NikeFuel to the cause.
- CharityBets.com: Set a goal, or organize a match, get people to donate if you meet your goal and then do some stuff. Good stuff. Doesn’t sync with the FitBit or Nike+, but you can enter your data.
- CharityMiles: This app gives you a very small thing to do to help donate to a few different causes. My favorite part about this app is they actually tell you exactly what you’re earning: “Bikers earn 10¢ a mile and walkers and runners earn 25¢ a mile, up to our initial $1,000,000 sponsorship pool.” It doesn’t seem like much, but if you run a lot and you get others who do to join in on it, then it adds up.
- Run4Good: You can tell by the name that it’s a good thing. Run4Good is by Saucony so it doesn’t integrate with any of the Nike+ stuff, so I don’t really use this a lot. But you are helping to fight childhood obesity each time you go for a run using this app. You can create Teams, win trophies and check stats. You can also integrate with Facebook and Twitter. But don’t.
- Weightless Project: Convert your FitBit calories to donations to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan.