Microsoft has partnered with 9 charities to donate a portion of ad revenue every time you send an instant message. You have to sign up for the i'm program, but this is the real deal, unlike the countless internet rumors about similar deals that offer cash rewards for sending messages or emails.

The American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Club, National AIDS Fund, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, ninemillion.org, the Sierra Club, StopGlobalWarming.org, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and the US fund for UNICEF are all working with Microsoft on the program. Microsoft says there's no cap on how much money will be donated, but the company has promised to send at least $100 thousand to each charity.

In order to participate you need to use Windows Live Messenger 8.1 (no Trillian or GAIM for you do-gooders), and you need to copy and paste some code into your settings to choose the charity you want to donate your proceeds to. You can change charities later.

Some web sites are reporting that you need to start instant messages with "i'm" in order to generate revenue for the charities. But in fact, it appears that when you add the script to your settings, an "i'm emoticon" will pop up next to your name. Now every message does start with "i'm," and a portion of revenue generated from that emoticon (it looks like you can click on it) will go to charity.

What's in it for Microsoft? Well, when you're a company the size of a small planet, any charitable donations are a good tax write-off. And this is a rather innovative way to get that deduction while giving users an incentive to use your product.

[via TechBlog]