Until now, this hadn’t been an option with our first charity, War Child, more down to technical reasons than anything else. However, thanks to the efforts of James Topham at War Child and his IT team, there is now a PayPal option for you to make donations. One benefit of this is that you can now pay in US dollars (which given the “strength” of the Canadian dollar should help!).

My thanks again to James for getting it live and hopefully this further option will help make it easier for everyone.

Note: The PayPal option will be implemented into the War Child site today – in the meantime, you can donate using the option below, where you will be referred to the War Child PayPal account (a tax receipt will still be issued).

Calling on the social media community, the message in the video complements the aim of the 12for12k Challenge perfectly – that a relatively small amount of people can make a huge impact in the lives of millions through the power of social media. On behalf of everyone involved with the 12for12k Challenge, I want to say thank you to Jason for his support and I’m delighted to have him on board.

Enjoy the video.

To learn about the first charity to be supported, as well as make a donation, please visit here.

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On top of that, Danny will be interviewed on Toronto news station CityNews by CityNews reporter Kris Reyes. The interview will take place on the morning of Thursday 8th January, with probable airing time that same evening.

Today (Tuesday January 6) also sees Danny discuss 12for12k with Beth Harte at The Cause Is The Habit, an online discussion station, where people can learn more about the 12for12k Challenge and how to help the charities involved. You can take part in the discussion by joining in here from 7.00pm EST this evening and selecting the Causechat option from the navigation menu.

Now that the holiday season is well and truly behind us, the big promotional push to raise awareness of the challenge begins in earnest. This is where you can help as well, by telling your friends, family and co-workers about it. If you need any promotional items or details how to donate, you’ll find all you need here.

Thanks for being with us so far – let’s push on and make the first charity WarChild a success.

• Donate to WarChild

So, some bits of news to share as we move into the official January 1 launch date for the 12for12k Challenge.

1. The 12for12k press release is now live. You can see the social media version of it (complete with videos and images) here:

http://pitch.pe/2605

My thanks to Dana Willhoit for her help in writing the release and subsequent distribution.

2. There are now more blog badges, as well as banners, to choose from if you wish to promote 12for12k on your own blog, website, or anywhere else. These can all be found here:

http://12for12k.org/promote-12for12k/

The best way to spread the word (apart from telling your friends, family and colleagues) is visually, so hopefully these will help you.

3. With the charity War Child having been chosen as the one we’re supporting in January, the donation page is now open. At the minute it’s credit card only but War Child is working on a Paypal option as well. All donations are tax-deductible and you’ll receive a receipt for that purpose. Donations can be made here:

http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=581366

The official 12for12k video is being worked on by our creative partners as we speak, and should be ready for release soon. If you want to take part in the video, you can find out how here:

http://12for12k.org/2008/12/21/get-involved-in-the-12for12k-video/

So, exciting times and very busy to say the least! I want to thank you all for your support, and remember – although we’re looking for 1200 people to make the challenge work, the more the merrier. If you know someone that would take part, please feel free to bring them on board.

Thanks again, and have a wonderful and safe 2009 – here’s to making the first charity a success!

Currently being worked on by Susan Murphy, Cheryl Gain and Kathryn Jennex, the video will accompany the challenge with a powerful visual message and I’m excited to see what the girls come up with. Now we want your help!

Simply record a video message of yourself saying any of the following words – “12 for 12″, “Join us”, “12″ or “I’m in”. If you really want to personalize it a little, have the 12for12k logo displayed somewhere – on your computer screen, on your phone, printed off and in your hand – anywhere. You can see some examples from us on the 12for12k drop.io page now.

Once you’ve recorded your message, save it into either an .avi or Quicktime format and upload it to the 12for12k drop.io page (all videos should be under 100MB). When it’s been uploaded, leave your details in the comment box for your video so we know who you are – name, where you live and Twitter username (if you have one). And that’s it!

Our creative team will sift through the videos and choose a selection of clips to use. Don’t worry if you’re not in the first video – we’re planning on releasing seasonal updates throughout the year, so we will definitely try and involve everyone at some stage!

The 12for12k Challenge wouldn’t be possible without your support – this is our way of saying thank you. Looking forward to seeing your videos!