Friday, October 12, 2012

Fourth blog, wherein I defend celebrities creating charities


Nancy Lublin, CEO of "Do Something" took to LinkedIn today to criticize celebrities creating NGOs.  As examples she cited recent troubles of Wyclef and Kanye's foundtions being shuttered and the trouble Madonna has had starting a school in Africa.

But surely celebrity-founded NGOs are not the only to fail at their task, but perhaps those failures are just more newsworthy.

The Time of India, for example, reported in June, 2011 that an internal evaluation determined 8 of 10 NGOs "unable to meet key parameters to prevent spread of HIV or AIDS" in India, rating the majority of their projects "failures."

The fact is, there are many advantages to having celebrities involved in the founding of these organizations.  As John Prendergast, a longtime activist on African issues told The New York Times Magazine, “Celebrities are master recruiters. If you’re trying to expand beyond the already converted, there’s no better way to do instant outreach than to have a familiar face where people want to know more about what they’re doing in their personal lives,”

In a sense, celebrities can leverage their brand equity as a force for social good.

Not on Our Watch, co-founded by George Clooney, has given over $9 million to aid the crisis in Darfur.  Kevin Bacon used the notoriety of tongue-in-cheek college game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" to start SixDegrees.org, ‘social networking with a social conscience,’ as he told Variety in July 2007.  Of course Princess Diana is well-remembered for her work on behalf of the disabled, homeless, and those with HIV/AIDS, as well as working actively against the use of landmines.

And, ironically, even Ms. Lublin's NGO was co-founded in 1993 by actor Andrew Shue, then of the hit TV drama "Melrose Place."  As her success attests, his pioneering spirit may have lacked some specificity at the time, but he helped create a force for good that is going strong 20 years later.  Seems to me that if celebrities can "do something" to help the world, they ought to.  If the Shue fits, wear it!

8 comments:

  1. Individuals, celebrity or not, have the right to create charities to support their pet causes.

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  2. Didn't know about George Clooney's involvement, very interesting post- defiantly agree that as such highly influential brands they should leverage their doings in ways to accomplish true charitable results.

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  3. regardless if they're successful or not, it's the fact that celebrities are trying to do something positive with their millions of dollars, instead of living uncontrollably. good on them. when one project fails, try again.

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  4. I applaud celebrities giving of their time and money. We have been working at the LA Arts Alliance recently to generate funds to help inner city kids and Ray Charle Junior has been more than generous with his time and his foundation. So many do wonderful things that don't make the press. Let's join in recognizing all of them.

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  5. I do wonder if there needs to be a bit of monitoring to ensure that the charity is not excessively self-serving. Some seem like vanity projects; although I suspect that is not a problem with just celebrity founded NGO's.

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  6. I guess being a celebrity comes at a cost... everything is under public scrutiny.

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  7. I think it's wonderful when celebrities give of themselves.

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  8. Not only celebrities, but anyone with the means to help should at least try. Trying is the beginning of every good endeavor. Without trying where would the world be?

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