Apparently, I’m one of the last humans on earth who hasn’t seen an episode of The L Word.  So I hope you’ll excuse me when I reveal that I didn’t know anything about Laurel Holloman until it came to my attention that her fundraising page raised over $14,000 for Doctors Without Borders.  Wow.

Actually, to be more precise, Laurel’s fan club set up the online fundraising page and raised the money in honor of her birthday last week.  Congratulations Laurel, and happy belated birthday.  Good for the fan club for promoting good work so effectively, and good for Laurel for encouraging them.  Note the effective use of the Firstgiving flash fundraising widget right on the club’s homepage.

You might not have an official fan club, but I bet you have a birthday, and that means you can help raise awareness and raise money for your favorite charitable cause or nonprofit organization without running a marathon or jumping in a frozen lake or even growing a cheesy moustache.  Just set up a Firstgiving online fundraising page (choose "personal occasion") and tell all your friends that instead of giving birthday presents and wearing silly hats, they can donate to your birthday fundraising page, make a difference and still wear silly hats.

I’m turning 29 again this summer, and I’m definitely going to try this.  Maybe next year, I’ll set up a fan club, too.