It’s the last business day of the year, which obviously leads me to think about last minute tax writeoffs. One of the best tax writeoffs, of course, is a charitable contribution. Then I remind myself that donating to charity isn’t just about the tax writeoff – it has the ancilliary benefit of helping others,too.

And that’s why I like Toronto-based Favorville, too. It’s a web 2.0 company that has the ancillary benefit of helping others.

The basic system is: register and post if you need a favor or have a favor to give. Things I see on the site now include a post for a free mattress, and a request for help writing a wikipedia article. After favors are completed, members are asked to make a rating of the other person. And if you help someone or are helped, the other person is automatically added to your network.

Favorville is young and has very little traffic. Usually I’d wait for things to develop a little more before posting on something like this, but given the feel-good angle to the company, I’m going to point to them now. Maybe we can do them a favor, and kickstart the network.