For ten years her business involved competing at international equestrian events and selling horses, many of which ended up at the Olympics. “I got tired of selling my best friends and, even though it sounds odd, I decided to get a job as a salesperson,” explains Gowers.

A career in search marketing began. But it only took her nine months to realise the revenue from search engines could be put to better use. She then hit upon the idea for Everyclick. Launched in June 2005 with her friend, Julia Felton, Everyclick’s company secretary, Gowers admits she was naive at first.

“I thought it would grow faster,” she says, “but I quickly realised that the world does not work that way.” 

The idea that sparked a search revolution was a simple one.

“I found it exciting that charities could benefit from something that we all do every day and with no one putting their hands in their pockets,” she says.

Everyclick works by inviting individuals and companies to use its search engine. Then half the revenue earned goes to the charity of choice. Users see at a glance how each click of the mouse adds to their giving total via their own fundraising page. And it is successful, having already generated over £1m for the 200,000 charities that are supported by the venture.

“That we have hit the £1m mark is a validation for us that we are on to a good thing,” says Gowers.

The donor is able choose which charities he or she is interested in giving to, or can opt to split their cash amongst all 200 of them. And 50 per cent of Everyclick’s revenue goes straight to the good causes. And the revenue made so far is obviously the tip of the ice berg. She believes the internet is currently underused as a means for giving.

“The UK currently gives £9.5 billion to charity and only two per cent of that happens online,” she explains.

Everyclick is certainly an easier, more user-friendly way of giving and without the donor having to put their hands in their pockets.

This has led the company to extend its brand and to take the concept one step further. Recently, Everyclick launched its Give as you Live campaign. This involves signing up to shops through the engineered technology platform. Again, it works as a search engine and you are directed to the branded companies that have jumped aboard the concept; including the popular trading site Ebay. Then every purchase earns the chosen charity a share. This represents a £2billion additional revenue opportunity for all charities in the UK.

“It was a scandal of lost millions,” she explains. “It was a no-brainer, to me, to direct a potential £2 billion to better places.”

The figures look good. The venture receives a commission of 5 per cent of the total value of your shopping basket, which means that from a typical sale of £30, £1.50 will go to charity.

Those who join get their own web page where they can track day-by-day how much their shopping and their searching is making. Currently almost 140,000 fundraisers have joined Everyclick with more joining all the time.

It is also a platform for users to give donations online whenever they feel the urge.

Gowers has plans to take Everyclick, along with the Give as you Live campaign, to the global market, although she admits that, with the current economic climate, now might not be the best time.

“We’d be crackers,” she says, “to go live in America until we have found the right distribution partners.” But it is obvious that this move is very much on a future agenda.

“Raising cash in America is more about people and ideas than spreadsheets, so this does make it easier than the UK.”

However, while being aware of this difference in national mentality, Gowers does believe the UK offers a strong base for those with the entrepreneurial spirit.

As winner of Website of the Year 2008 and recently listed in Tech Media Invest Top 100 companies for 2009, she is rightly proud of her achievements, not to mention her ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award at the Women in Ethical Business Awards in 2007.

“I am a winner,” she says, “and a workaholic.”