These are great ideas -- and I need some, since I made my minimum for the Livestrong ride but my husband hasn't. He doesn't have a blog and just can't bring himself to ask people outright. He's gotten some donations from his sigline link, though.

If he doesn't pick up enough, I'm going to offer my services on a screenwriting bulletin board, to do notes/critique on scripts if people will donate to my husband's ride. I haven't decided how much to ask them to donate, but in this situation I may ask them to donate a minimum of 50 dollars, because that's a very reasonable charge.

So, bartering or auctioning off services might be another way.