Last week there was a headline in the Onion that read, “Obama’s Record-Breaking Fundraising Effort Bankrupting NPR, World Wildlife Fund, ACLU” As with a lot of edgy humor, there might have been something to it.  To some, it might have felt that the election was drawing resources, attention and donations away from other causes and activities.  Well, the election’s done now.  Whether you’re happy about the outcome or not, you’ve got at least a little while before you can credibly start working on the 2012 race.

So, what do you do with your energy until then?  There are literally millions of other ways to do good now that the political silly season is behind us.  If you were involved in the election, you probably know a lot more about online fundraising campaigns than you did before.  If you weren’t and somehow still consider yourself a fundraising virgin, that’s ok too.  Volunteering, donating money or goods, and setting up a fundraising page are all easy to do.

Rather than go into great detail here, I’ll just leave you with an inspiring example.  It turns out you can raise money online for a good cause even if you don’t have a spine.  Look at Zippy the Lobster, who has raised over $800 so far for the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation of Maryland.

If you want to be like Zippy, or at least if you want to raise money online for a non-political cause, you can be up and running in just a few minutes.  Start here.  If you work for a nonprofit organization, you can learn more about mobilizing your own army of Zippys here, or better yet, attend our upcoming webinar, Nine things you can do now to win in 2009.