Pay it forward and donate to charity.

Okay... Weird, you're probably thinking, that you can "pay it forward" with your success, but this idea presents itself over and over again.

Think of it as Karma, or getting back three times what you give out. Giving to charity is just one of a great many ways you can invest responsibly.

Many people find that once they get past the hump and are really making the money they want to be making, there is something still missing. There is a real human drive to give back a little of what you have been giving, even if you "pay it forward" by passing some of your profit and experience on to someone else.

It enables us to feel better about ourselves. That we are doing the "right thing". Whatever the "right thing" is for you, you should still at least consider giving a little back of what you have gained from all your efforts. It often actually pays to be seen to be giving to those less fortunate than ourselves.

There are many, many opportunities to pay it forward - or donate to charity - in your investing career:

One investor I heard of recently made sure that he sponsored a child through World Vision for every single house that he owned and rented out. He made sure his tenants were involved by having these children's report cards and letters sent to them. Their appreciation of what he was doing for others added to the loyalty of his tenants and actually helped the rent come in on time, every time!

From our own property investing endeavours, my family supports One Laptop Per Child. This charity helps thousands of children and their communities all over the world by allowing you to buy a tough, environmentally-friendly wind-up-to-recharge laptop for children in disadvantaged countries in Africa, South America and Asia. Its open-source community produces educational software and enables kids to browse the internet without any mains electricity, giving the children a help up, rather than a hand-out. And they cost US$199 each. You can even buy one for yourself (our little daughter loves hers!) and one for a child, so the funds from the extra machine go to continuing improvement in the community. We pay it forward and buy one laptop per property every year, so of course as our portfolio increases, so does our reach!

If you're interested in helping people to help themselves, you could always consider using a microlending service such as Opportunity International or Kiva.org. These are organisations set up online to manage loans to entrepreneurs in the 3rd world. It might be only $50 to get a piece of equipment to help them build their business, but it is an interest-free loan that they have the responsibility to pay back. Such is the support (and peer pressure) from these small business' communities, that the loans are nearly always paid back, and you can check the payment history of people you lend to beforehand, just to be sure.

Most of the investors who went through 21st Century Education with me make it a pledge to take 10% of all their investment profits to donate to charity each year. The idea is that as you give, so you'll also receive - in abundance - and it's an idea that certainly works for us! Give it a go!

I'd love to hear about other ideas investors have for giving a little of their gains back.

Tell us your story and we'll donate a laptop for you!

Do you share the profits from your efforts investing in rental property (or other investments) with others in greater need? Even if you have a great idea for doing so, we'd love to hear how!

The best story we receive by December 31st 2010 will see us donate a laptop to a child in need, in their name, through One Laptop Per Child.

And just to sweeten the deal, the winner themselves will also receive an XO Laptop to do with as they please!

Make sure you give us your contact details at the end, so we can let you (and OLPC) know!