What is Digg?22 Comments
- goodquestion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3What's ridiculous is to spend $100 million in advertising to raise $10 million for charity. I'm glad someone is taking on this wasteful, slick campaign. If you really want to do good, skip a purchase and give money directly to charity.
- goodspeed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Nice! Attack a successful charitable campaign to draw attention to itself and stir up controversy. An old trick in the book. No diggs for this one...
- timtastic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This site is ridiculous. You are attacking the idea of buying products that give proceeds to charity? Aren't there more objectionable ideas out there to disagree with?
- timtastic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1that's a closed minded opinion. Donation is a one-way flow, while (RED) is a sustainable system. Say what you will about it, but at least it's a new idea and it opens a new channel.
- timtastic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You seem to be forgetting that that $100 million would have been spent anyways marketing products that don't give to the Global Fund. That's an $18 million net gain, not an $82 million defecit.
- timtastic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Spending $200 on a phone is ridiculous, but tens of thousands of people do it every day. What's not ridiculous is giving some of that money to save lives.
- theupquarks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is great! But I don't think the links to donate work...
- Chesterfield, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://adage.com/article?article_id=115287&rf=23m
100 million spent to raise 18 million?!
Quote from article: "There is a broadening concern that business is taking on the patina of philanthropy and crowding out philanthropic activity and even substituting for it," he said. "It benefits the for-profit partners much more than the charitable causes." - beatselecta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Private sector donations were always much lower. Read the article in the UK's Independent. The $25 Million that RED actually raised is 3 times more than previous year's totals for private sector donation to the Global Fund. Private sector companies are going to do what is good for their bottom line, period, that's the way they work unfortunately. If we can find a way to make it profitable for them to provide funding for charitable causes the better in my book. Besides as someone else mentioned above, this is a more sustainable model for private investment into causes. What's wrong with that? Do you really think we're going to reverse decades of rising consumerism in the US with a simple website? No, but bad PR can easily sink promising experiments such as RED. If the guy who created Buylesscrap.org would have really wanted to start conversation, he would've provided a forum for discussion instead of a static site with no feedback mechanism, typical, people criticize and then duck for cover. I mean it's been what, a year? Geez people, give the idea some time. We need new ideas not retreads of old cause marketing ideas. No offense to traditional cause work, but last I heard we weren't much closer to ending African poverty with them. There is always a segment of society that will donate, usually lefties (like me) who just can't stand the thought of giving up on economic socialism (not me), lambasting the invasion of any capitalist mechanisms at the price of torpedoing any socialist social policy gains. Without these capitalist mechanisms, any African recovery would quickly sink in the rapid currents of global economics.
Sustainable economic models are what Project RED is about, after all, all of the Gap RED products are actually manufactured in Africa where workers are provided good working conditions, far above market pay, and free AIDS treatment. Expecting people out of the goodness of their hearts to save the world is a bit naive. The problems in Africa are institutional, so taking a look at the roots of the problem is a better alternative than expecting everyone else to foot the bill. These solutions are hard, they are never simple. In the meantime, keep donating, it is critical to helping our poverty stricken African brothers and sisters survive, but alone, it is not a long-term solution.
Oh and I know for a fact that Project RED's marketing costs were nowhere near $100 MM, a third of it at best (which represents a great return for a fledgling brand, so it does make business sense). - timtastic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Here is an interesting rebuttal to the (RED) backlash by CEO Bobby Shriver: http://www.joinred.com/ad_age.asp
- katelynmaier, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I agree.
I love the concept and execution
Help me spread the word to empower people to be smarter donors and to ask questions: Exactly where is this money going??...Who is getting rich???
Also, here is a place to give money directly: http://www.ChangingThePresent.org
ChangingThePresent.org puts all of the nonprofits and causes in one organized place, or marketplace.
Another great organization is Charity Global [Charityis.org]. This is a nonprofit organization stimulating greater global awareness about extreme poverty. 100% of your money goes to the water well digging projects...and they send you pictures of the resulting wells within a couple of months. - Gitfinger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What's ridiculous is spending $200 on a mobile phone to give a few cents to charity.
- jessiebennett, on 11/27/2007, -0/+0Fantastic idea!
- audioconnell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Love the concept and execution.
That said, whatever legal means that works to get reticent or slacking citizens to start paying more attention to each other than "American Idol" or "Survivor" is better than nothing! - kelly454, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I am amazed by your humility greenjoe!
- rtolmach, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0For another approach to doing good, please take a look at http://www.ChangingThePresent.org.
For just a few dollars, you can provide a child with her first book; fund an hour of cancer research; protect an acre of the rainforest; or restore a blind person’s sight with cataract surgery. ChangingThePresent.org offers a remarkably wide range of inspiring donation opportunities, so you’re sure to find something that moves you.
Donation gifts are also a wonderful way to honor friends and family for their birthdays, weddings and holidays. (After all, how many of us really want another fruitcake or fuzzy slippers?) Wish lists and registries make it easy to find the perfect gift, which you can share with a personalized greeting card.
Imagine, for one delicious moment, the scale of our impact when donation gifts become a social norm. - Gitfinger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You mean spending $100 million to raise $18 million makes sense then your maths is even worse than mine. As a charity it has a deficit of $82 million.
The entire exercise is absolutely worthless and succeeds in nothing other than promoting the brands behind them. It's just another consumer scam. - elissaone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Don't get MI(RED) in more crap, get RUTH(LESS) about change!
- svenr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They actually list six organizations (at least when I checked). There's an inconspicuous slider to the right of the list so you can scroll down.
- kelly454, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Oh yeah..i'm sure most of you making these negative comments make all of your own clothes and gifts, and don't own cell phones/blackberries/ipods...give me a break! GET REAL!!!
Stop rationalizing, this is ONE of MANY ways to give back!
Your complaining is just negative energy...it would be more worthwhile using your energy on more positive emotions and actions. - greenjoe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0luv this! (less) IS more, as is clearly demonstrated by their models. ;)
sell those (red) luxury items on ebay and donate the proceeds to the 3 orgs listed.
i gave directly to 1 of the 3 orgs via link from buylesscrap.org, and you should, too... - blcarmadillo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If you're in the giving mood check out this site: www.moneyforamac.com; this kid is trying to raise enough money from donations to get a Mac Book Pro.
Check out the new & improved 
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