Target's Super Love Sender online campaign is a creative, free way for people to support a charity of their choice while getting in the Valentine's Day/Super Bowl Spirit.

Valentine’s Day and Super Bowl Sunday are only a week apart, and Target is celebrating with a two-week-long online giving campaign through their Facebook page at facebook.com/Target!

Their ‘Super Love Sender’ campaign, which runs from January 31 through February 14, 2010, combines football and romance just in time for these special days. Participants will decide how 5 national charities will receive a portion of $1 million donation from Target to fund educational programming. The charities are:

• The Salvation Army
• Kids In Need Foundation
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
• United Way
• United Through Reading® Military Program

Through Super Love Sender, participants can send a funny, football-inspired valentine video card to significant others, friends, and family in support of the charity of their choice. Best of all, the cards are free to participants!  Every time an online video card is sent, the selected charity will receive one vote.  The total percentage of votes will correlate to the charities’ portion of the $1 million received in a one-time donation from Target.

I won’t tell you who to root for during the Super Bowl, BUT, I will, of course, encourage you to select the Salvation Army when sending out your Super Love Sender cards. The Salvation Army will use funds to support the educational enrichment of children and families during the back-to-school timeframe.

When I checked out the Super Love Sender and made my own card, I was truly impressed by Target’s creativity! You can customize your online card by selecting from 3 themes: a song, dance, or poem, all performed by goofy football players on a stage of plush pink. These athletes may not be the most macho guys in the huddle, but they will score a laugh.

If you’re thinking about a significant other, the poem theme may be the way to go (the football player’s cougar growl is worthy of provoking a smile), and the dance theme would be great for anyone ( the ‘freestyle scrimmage’ and ‘man in motion choreography’ are just a few examples of the dance moves to choose from).

Participants can send a maximum of 10 video cards per computer per day, throughout the campaign.  All votes and dollars allocated will be updated in real time on the Target Facebook Page, and the final donation allocation will be announced on February 15, 2010.

And thank you to Target for creating a fun and innovative campaign to support charities and education. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week for education, the arts, social services and volunteerism nationwide.

Once you create a card for someone special, be sure to leave a comment on our blog about how you chose to personalize it and your tips for other participants!