A quick idea that was sparked from seeing some tweets coming out of the Not For Profit tweetup (#nfptweetup) - where apparently there was a presentation on geo-location apps. 
(image thanks to julietteculver)
I think that location is very exciting field currently, and not just for discount coupons - go see Marshall Kirkpatrick on ReadWriteWeb for some great stuff on that. So I was thinking about how this could be applied to charities after seeing that over 300 British Red Cross shops are on Foursquare, so you can check in. I get thinking about how your phone could, based on where you are, point you to charity related things.
I was first thinking charity shops, but that might get annoying - if you're not looking to buy something and then you get messages telling you buy something, you might get a bit annoyed. So instead I think volunteering could be a viable option. I'm thinking that a database of small, short volunteering jobs could be built up which could be suggested to users nearby. Maybe it's helping an elderly person to get some shopping, or cleaning up a nearby street.
The users could then download an app, or (I don't know if this is possible) some sort of app within Foursquare could alert the user to volunteering nearby. That's why I think short jobs would work best - it could be something done during a lunch break or when you've some spare time on a weekend. Plus a volunteering badge/mayorship game could encourage more volunteering.
So what do you think? A terrible idea?
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