Passports with Purpose | Calling All Travel Bloggers

Today we have a special feature to share with you as one of our Travel Massive insiders, Passports with Purpose explains their newest approach.

Whether it’s a shared trip, a solo journey or even experienced through written word on the pages of your favorite site, travel connects us.

For the last eight years, Passports with Purpose has used its travel connections to raise more than USD $410,00 for various non-profit organizations. We believe in the power of travel to change lives.

If you are new to Passports with Purpose, our approach to raising money has always been primarily grassroots and driven by the online community. Travel bloggers procure prizes from sponsors, typically in the travel industry, and during a 10-day fundraiser held late in the year we auction off the prizes online. For every $10 a person can bid to win a prize of their choice, from hotel stays and gear to electronics and travel experiences. Every dollar raised goes directly to that year’s beneficiary.

We have raised over $200,000 alone to build libraries and schools in Asia in Africa. There are great reasons to promote literacy: According to UNESCO, 781 million adults and 126 million youths – 3 out of 5 of them girls – can neither read nor write. Literacy is critical to breaking the cycle of poverty and books are critical to improving literacy. But in Africa as many as 50 percent of all schools have few or no books. 

That’s why we are especially excited to announce our 2015 charity partnership with Worldreader.

Worldreader has a very simple mission: To bring digital books to every family, empowering them to improve their lives.

The funds raised in 2015 from Passports with Purpose will bring digital reading to five libraries in western Kenya. The e-readers will provide an estimated 6,250 children, teachers and parents with access to more than 50,000 books.

What we like about Worldreader’s work is that it operates at the intersection of technology and indigenous culture. Each library will get 50 Kindle e-readers, containing both English and Swahili fiction and non-fiction for all ages, as well as Kenyan textbooks. The Worldreader program also includes comprehensive training for the librarians, as well as a field-tested and proven solar solution that will keep the e-readers charged if electricity is scarce.

You can make a difference

This year we’re going to be running that auction a bit earlier than we have in the past – from Sunday, November 8 until Wednesday, November 18, 2015.

Travel bloggers can sign up now to participate. No blog is too small, no place is too out of the way.

Are you part of the travel industry? You can help two ways: donate a prize to give away or become a sponsor. Fill out this procurement form and we can help match you up with a travel blogger who will write about your prize. Or, go here to learn more about sponsorships.

During the fundraiser, come check out Passports with Purpose and bid on a prize, or simply spread the word.

And no matter what role you want to play, stay up-to-date with all our news by following us on Twitter and Facebook. Pass along our news to the world using the hashtag #PwP.