Washington ? In lieu of presents at her 12th birthday party this year, Maddie Freed asked her friends to bring money, raising $800 for Children’s Hospital here.

Jenny Hoekman, 8, saves a third of what she makes walking dogs, and recently donated it to help her suburban Brownie troop sponsor an immigrant family.

And in Club Penguin, a popular online game club for the elementary school set, more than 2.5 million kids gave their virtual earnings to charities in a contest. In response, the site’s founders are giving $1 million to charities based on the children’s preferences.

Children and teenagers nationwide are getting in-volved in philanthropy more than ever, according to research and nonprofit experts, who credit new technologies with the rise of the trend. As young people increasingly become exposed to and connected with the problems of the world via the Internet and television, experts said, parents are finding new ways to instill in their children the value of giving.

At the same time, technology is democratizing philanthropy so giving is not only easier for people of all ages and means but also trendier. And children are starting to organize at the grassroots level to give.

“We’ve globalized technology, we’ve globalized commerce, but we haven’t globalized compassion,” said Craig Kielburger, founder of Free the Children, a nonprofit network of kids helping kids. “But we’re seeing a generation of kids, ages 10 to 15, who are aware of global problems, and they’re really searching to help.

“The next step is to help kids move from that awareness to action.”

At Club Penguin, children’s penguins have virtual jobs, earn virtual coins and can buy things for their virtual igloo homes. The site held a 10-day “Coins for Change” campaign ending on Christmas Eve in which 2.5 million users donated in some cases as many as 1,500 coins – enough to furnish an igloo – to charities. In turn, the site, owned by Walt Disney Co., divided 1 million real dollars among the charities: the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund and Free the Children.

Lane Merrifield, the site’s co-founder, said teaching kids about philanthropy is “part of our responsibility.

“We don’t live in a world that is just about playing games or going to work and earning coins and buying stuff. There’s also giving back.”