Frequently Asked Questions

We've come up with a list of questions we think you're most likely to ask.

Can't find your answer? Please contact us at contact[at]wheek.it.

What does wheek.it do

wheek.it is a free link shortening service, much like Bit.ly or Owly. You can use wheek.it to create tiny, clean links out of long, ugly links.

I don't get it. What is this?

Sometimes it helps to break things down to the very basics. Let's go there...

Let's say you've found a link that is too long and ugly to share on Facebook or Twitter. The link might be too long or perhaps you'd like to track who is clicking on the link you share.

So, before sharing, you copy the link you've found from your URL bar. Then you visit wheek.it and paste the long link into the URL bar on the wheek.it homepage. Then you click the "Shorten" button and a new, shortened version of your link is created. Easy-peasy. Find, copy, paste, shorten, share.

Then you're ready to share a cute, tiny wheek.it shortlink on your Twitter or Facebook page. Plus, you can even track link analytics to see who's using your short links.

So this is a link shortening service. Big deal, amirite?

While it's true that wheek.it is a lot like other link shortening services, there are a few things that make wheek.it different.

First, wheek.it uses a technique called "affiliate marketing" to raise money for guinea pig rescues.

Affiliates are companies like Kohls or Zappos.com: our "participating shops". wheek.it affiliates have agreed to pay us a commission for any item (a product or service) that is purchased through a wheek.it link. The money that is made from purchases through wheek.it short links are split equally between the 2 guinea pig rescues (nominated by you and voted for by wheek.it users on the 2025 Featured Rescue Poll) at the end of each year. [top]

How do I really know the funds are being donated?

A screenshot of earning activity is posted during the first month of each quarter on the wheek.it blog. You can follow earning statistics by subscribing to the donation figures RSS feed or by checking in on the Donation Figures blog category.

You can also use the Donation Figures category to track photos of checks written to each year's featured rescues.

Please note that it may take up to 3 months for checks to be issued for each year's 2 featured rescues. Exact funds will be distrubuted to each featured rescue for clicks received from 12:00 AM on January 1, 2024 to 11:59 PM on Decebmer 31, 2024. [top]

Who are the participating shops

You can view a partial list of participating retail partners on the Participating Shops page. [top]

How are rescues selected to have money raised?

A poll is held every year to determine which rescue will be featured for the following year. The poll can be accessed here and tracked tracked through announcements in the Featured Rescue Poll blog tag. [top]

How can I nominate a rescue to be featured

You can nominate a guinea pig rescue to be included in one of our yearly polls on our Nomination page. Each poll will consist of the first ten (10) nominations we receive. If we receive more than ten nominations in any given year, rescues will be added to subsequent polls on a rolling basis.

In order for your nomination to qualify, the organization you are nominating MUST be registered as a non-profit organization in the county or region in which it operates.

If you have any questions about whether your favorite rescue could qualify as a wheek.it featured rescue, please email contact[at]wheek.it. [top]

How much money is usually raised?

wheek.it is a relatively new service, so the amount of money that is raised each year varies significantly. Sometimes, donations may be just a few dollars, other times it can be much more. This all depends on the amount of people who use wheek.it to shorten links. The more people that use wheek.it, the more money can be raised for guinea pig rescues.

And, as an incentive to fund-raise, each featured rescue will receive an additional $50 (USD) from wheek.it on top of 50% of that year's earnings! Oh, boy, oh, boy! Money, money, money!

You can help get the word out about wheek.it by sharing this awesome service with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and directly on your website. [top]

I still don't get it. Please try again.

Let's get down to basics.

Below is what a typical wheek.it fundraising calendar looks like.

What does "abuse" mean?

wheek.it takes abuse seriously. Your responsible use of wheek.it will ensure that this service stays online to help raise money for guinea pig rescues.

If you suspect someone is using wheek.it for any of the reasons below, kindly send an email to abuse[at]wheek.it.

The following actions are prohibited and considered abuse of this service:

1. Do not make purchases using your own wheek.it shortlinks. Use wheek.it to make recommendations to others, not as a charity cashback site.
2. Do not make slanderous or libelous comments about products and/or services you link to via wheek.it on your Facebook, Twitter, or other online accounts or websites.
3. Don't use wheek.it to shorten links to websites, web pages, or content containing adult/mature content or to webpages that may be considered hateful and/or may violate the laws of your region or area. Linking to web sites containing information about pharmaceuticals, gambling, firearms, and links to resource-heavy applications (including role-playing games) and to content that may be described profane, defamatory, or otherwise offensive is strictly prohibited.

Links that violate any of the conditions above will be blocked and deleted from our database.

To reduce database bloat, short links older than 90 days that have received 0 clicks will be routinely trimmed from the database. We advise that you visit your short links at least once to ensure that it will remain permanently active. [top]

How can I tell others about wheek.it?

The more people that use your short link = the more money raised for a guinea pig rescue.

Fortunately, wheek.it links are perfect for sharing on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Visit the Share page for ideas on how to help us get the word out about wheek.it! [top]

Who operates this site?

wheek.it is operated by a small group of volunteers who desire to help other humans easily raise money for guinea pig rescues. Web hosting, domain service, and maintenance are all paid for out-of-pocket, while 100% of revenue earned through participating shop referral fees are donated to the current year's featured guinea pig rescues. [top]

How does a guinea pig rescue achieve "featured" status?

Most importantly, a featured guinea pig rescue will receive 50% of referral fees earned by wheek.it during the 1 year (12-month period). The other 50% of referral fees is donated to the second featured rescue.

To achieve featured status, a guinea pig rescue must:

1. Be registered as a non-profit organization in the county or region in which it operates
2. Have a focus on helping guinea pigs
3. Have demonstrated the ability to adequately care for and re-home guinea pigs
4. Receive the most votes on the 2025 featured rescue poll

If you want to see your favorite rescue receive 12 months worth of money raised from wheek.it shortlinks, you can start by making a nomination. [top]

How can I make a direct donation to this year's featured rescues?

We love that you love guinea pigs so much!

We can always make a direct contribution to the current year's featured guinea pig rescue. Visit Featured Rescue and use the donation link to give money directly to the rescue you with to support. And thank you! [top]