Changing the World, $5 at a Time

Anna McDonnell, age 51, is passionately concerned about at-risk girls. "I just believe," she says, "that gender inequality is probably the greatest single cause of the imbalances on our planet." So, she created a social networking site called "5 for Fairness" where for a donation as little as $5 you can help to give a leg up to girls both here and abroad.

Here's how the site works. Once you give your $5 you join a team of other site members championing an organization you think deserves a grant. Once the donations account reaches $5,000, members vote where to send the grant, choosing from among the five teams with the most member support.

The site costs very little to run. It uses NING, a free, web hosting service and Pay Pal charges only a small fee for processing donations. The charity has already funded three projects serving at-risk girls in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Los Angeles.