swimparallel/CC by 2.0

Besides vegan chocolate chip cookies, what do you like to make? At the top of my list, in no particular order: A difference. Progress. Change. Now it's a cinch for like-minded do-gooders to make all three with PETA's new Change Makers personal fundraising program.

Because animals need PETA's vital lifesaving efforts more than you need yet another tchotchke, it makes perfect sense to set up your own Change Makers page. With just a few strokes of the keyboard, your friends and family can support PETA's programs through a donation in honor of your birthday, wedding, or other special event.

(Just in time for the upcoming holiday season, you can say "Farewell, fruitcakes; hello, Change Makers.")  

Here's an incentive to become a Change Maker today: Anyone who raises more than $50 by November 30 will receive a PETA key chain.

Written by Karin Bennett

Look at this photo and tell me: Do you think the shorter girl looks as if she can't wait to tattle on the taller one? Of course, I do—and my sister could offer endless examples of how I tattled on her for all sorts of naughty behavior. Especially cursing, which she did so often that our exasperated mom set up a swear jar.

Both the tattletale and animal defender inside me are very excited to learn that SwearJarr has chosen PETA as one of the charities that will receive donations from social networking potty mouths who are busted by other Tweeps ("Swear Police"). Imagine raising money to combat cruelty by busting foul-mouthed offenders on Twitter.

So sign up to follow the @swear_police on Twitter, and then head to the SwearJarr Web site. Once you are there, enter in your Twitter screen name to figure out your fine, and then make a donation to PETA based on how much you've sworn. Take a tip from our Twitterer extraordinaire and share the amount that you owe with all your followers.

Please act quickly—PETA's time to receive SwearJarr donations is limited. After the end of this month, another charity will be named to receive donations.

Written by Karin Bennett

If you make a donation of more than $100 before July 31, not only will your generous gift be matched, you will also receive a signed copy of Ingrid E. Newkirk's book One Can Make a Difference: How Simple Actions Can Change the World. Here are the rules:

The following blog originally appeared on PETA Prime:

There are moments in history when individuals make a choice in concert with others, and that choice reverberates for decades. Groups often form in response to a challenge from one individual. Take Henry Bergh, for example, a man of the early 19th century who led people to band together to bring about anti-cruelty legislation. Or Ingrid E. Newkirk and her decision 30 years ago to found PETA, which has resulted in monumental progress for animals. And now, with the generous help of Bob Barker, PETA is looking for 1,000 people who will step forward for animals by July 31. Will you be among the ranks or otherwise help us meet his challenge?

As you may know, Bob Barker recently gave PETA $2.5 million to create a new nerve center for animal rights in Los Angeles. At the time that the Bob Barker Building was dedicated, Barker issued a challenge: He offered to donate an additional $2 million to match certain gifts to PETA—one of those gifts being new memberships. And that's where you come in, even if you already are a member.

PETA always has more opportunities to help animals than financial resources to carry out the work. The new Bob Barker Building isn't just about bricks and mortar. Just as PETA investigators go wherever change for animals is needed, PETA wants its staff members to be based wherever they can benefit animals the most. By relocating our International Grassroots Campaigns, Youth Outreach Campaigns, and Marketing departments to our new Los Angeles headquarters, PETA will have more space to grow and more power to carry out our mission. You can help us change the world for animals by supporting Bob Barker's challenge.

If you are not yet a member, please step forward now with a contribution of $16 or more and support PETA’s work to end cruelty and promote respect for all animals and Bob Barker will match your gift. We are trying to recruit 1,000 new members by July 31 to kickstart our fundraising goals. You can become a PETA member by clicking here. Your donation will make a great difference because PETA is efficient as well as effective, with almost 81 cents of every dollar going directly to programs that help animals—and in this case, Bob Barker will double your dollar!

If you are already a member, please help us by finding one friend or family member who will step forward now for animals and have their gift matched by Bob Barker. You can help by sharing this blog post via Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail or in any other way that you can think of to help spread the word.

All current members receive a one-year subscription to PETA's colorful and informative magazine Animal Times, which features great new vegan recipes, heart-warming stories about animals, and information on how you can help protect animals.

In the first three decades of PETA's existence, we've seen great progress, but there is still so far to go. Won't you seize this historic opportunity to build PETA's membership so that we can continue to expose cruelty and act to end it? Please help PETA meet Bob Barker's challenge and change the world for animals!

Written by Scott VanValkenburg

What's the first thing that animal-friendly pop star Ke$ha did after flying in to her flooded hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, recently? She bought 1,000 pounds of dog and cat food and dropped it off at the Nashville Metro Animal Shelter! The guardian of five beloved rescued dogs, Ke$ha just had to help after hearing that the shelter was overwhelmed with animals who had been turned over by their guardians or abandoned in flooded homes without any food or drinking water following Tennessee's historic floods. To help even more, Ke$ha is also holding a benefit concert with all proceeds going to help families and animals affected by the floods. Two paws up for your compassion, Ke$ha!

The flooding in Tennessee is a reminder that natural disasters can strike anywhere, anytime, so it's vital to make emergency evacuation plans that include our animal companions. TVs, couches, and even homes are replaceable, but best friends aren't!

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Things that nonbelievers thought were never going to happen but did: "Octomom" saying "Yes" to our spay-and-neuter billboard, the Large Hadron Collider smashing proton beams into one another, and (drumroll, please) author, social entrepreneur, and longtime vegetarian Michael Mann agreeing to donate his half of the hotly sought-after $50 million domain Sex.com to PETA (pending IRS approval of this tax-deductible donation, of course).

Mann's offer to donate his share of Sex.com has us poised to tell the world that a vegan diet supports a lifetime of good health and great sex. If all goes as planned, visitors to the new site will see our sizzling ads such as "Veggie Love" and get information that will help turn on carnivores to the power of "veggie Viagra." Mike's generosity makes everyone a winner: He'll score a huge tax write-off, meat-loving men who tend to limp through their later years (thanks to their artery-clogging diets) will learn how to make their sex lives sizzle by going vegan, and countless animals will be saved from the horrors of factory farms and slaughterhouses.

Written by Karin Bennett

With the Winter Olympics just a week away and all eyes turning to Vancouver, now is the perfect moment to draw attention to Canada's upcoming slaughter of tens of thousands of young harp seals. These sensitive animals are often less than 2 weeks old when sealers beat them, hook them in the eye, mouth, or cheek, and then drag them across the ice in order to steal their skins. The hope to finally end this bloody massacre and save these seals is literally pinned on the support of compassionate people.

So right now, PETA is giving one of our limited-edition pins to everyone who makes an online donation to help save the skins of seals and other animals (while supplies last).

Wearing your pin is an easy way to remind your friends of the massive slaughter that will begin only days after the world's athletes and TV cameras leave Vancouver. Where will you stick yours?

Written by Logan Scherer