What do you and your friends like to do? Cook together? Eat meals together? Prank each other…lovingly? Celebrate birthdays together? Go to parties or weddings? Probably all of the above, because those are the things I love doing with my friends. Personally, every year around November my friends and I have a beard growing contest much to the chagrin of my sweet wife. I am very proud to say that I usually win.One of my favorite pranks is to “flock” someone’s yard and cover it in pink flamingos. Is there any way to use a prank to make a difference in Africa? Sure! What if every time you pulled a prank you had to put $10 in a jar, excluding the “prankee” of course. Then over the course of the semester, if you have five friends who pull five pranks that’s $250! “You gotta pay to play” could be your slogan!

Or, maybe out of your group of friends, you trade off hosting dinner every month, each bringing a dish to enjoy time with each other. The entrance fee is $15 toward clean water in Africa. The idea is that we can use the normal things that we do in life for a greater purpose. We can use the everyday normal things we do for fun to affect change.

Are you getting married, or going to a wedding soon? They are beautiful occasions, times to celebrate and enjoy friends and family. I was recently blown away by a couple who in an incredible act of generosity used their wedding as a platform to raise money for clean water! They raised over $10,000!

What if you used those things you like to do with your friends and family to connect with the HIV/AIDS and water crises? All across the U.S. friends of Blood:Water have decided to take the everyday normal events in life and make them count for something more. We celebrate every dollar and every fundraiser because $1=1 year of clean water for one person in Africa. Regardless of how much is raised, the impact it huge. Anyone can get on board with that right?

Well, that is why we are excited about our new online fundraising tool! It allows you to connect your friends, family and social network with your desire to make a difference in communities in Africa. You can use it for any of the ideas above or one of your own like this teacher in Boston who is raising money with his students. The sky is the limit, you can do it! Ready, go!