Environmental consciousness - genuine caring or business?

There seems to be a growing trend towards caring for the enviroment.

What percentage of moving towards enviroment is genuine caring by business?

A-Less than 10 percent

B-10 to 25 percent

C-25 to 30 percent

D-30 percent plus

More important - what are your thoughts in this area?
Is it more profitable now because of effectiveness?
Is it profitable because of a better business image?
Is it profitable profitable because consumers tastes and caring is changing?

What are your opinions?

Blogging as a form of giving back to bloggers?

I ran across a blog that went on a mission of photographing a stranger everyday for an entire year that actually did it. Do you see this as a way of giving back by being an example of someone actually doing what they set out to do as a blogger?

iheartstrangers is the name of the blog.

Is this a way of giving back?

Easy red cross question:

Just guess a number....

If I randomly went up to people in the United States. (Orange County - California) How many would I have to go up to before one person knew the name of the Founder of the Red Cross?


How many would know out of 100?


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Optional reading bellow
Optional questions bellow

What would you think of a wall of fame (blog photo hall of fame here) of pictures of the people that actually knew this question?

What do you think the age range would be of people that got it right?

A little thinking required:
I have thought about asking random survey questions to strangers that I think would get similar responce... Michael Jordans jersey number? The president of the us the year you were born? Score of last years superbowl? What interesting question can you come up with that you think would have a similar statisical outcome as the Red Cross Founder question?

What do you think about localism in charity?

Please share your honest heartfelt thoughts... I really want to know.


What do you think about this type of statement?

With the way the economy is now we need to focus all of our charity and giving in our local area first. I am sick and tired of hearing about all of these celebrities giving away money to foreign countries and adopting kids from other countries. What about the United States?


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What about this one?

Poverty in America is a choice. There are so many choices a person has here people are just too lazy to work that is why they are poor. 80 percent of the world does not even have running water or electricity people in the United States are spoiled and they should give to other countries less fortunate.

"Charity is my passion"

When I did a blog search.... I searched "charity is my passion" - Which of the following would you guess came up?

1- Breast cancer awareness
2- The red cross
3- The united way
4- Ferrets unlimited dot org

If you guessed ferrets you would be right. How much does the surprise you?

How do you feel about this as a form of charity?

I wrote a children's book on the value of being on time. My idea is to give them away as a form of charity.... Have you heard of giving away a book that an author writes as a form of charity?

(Interview) --International Yacht racing and charity

Being blunt I think one of charities biggest challenges is money. Right? Ok Who has money? In one circle of people I know there are no broke people... International Yacht Racing... Why not get international yacht racers to post here on this blog then right? I could not find any but what I did find was a person over at www.yachtsponsorship.com who was willing to answer some Q and A for me.

Please enjoy reading this and please post some friendly comments and/or suggestions or questions.

Tom,



Thanks for sending these through. Here are my attempts at answers…


Note and questions I sent with answers
Many of the people that I know into yachting are like me - Philanthropic.



1- From your viewpoint what charities do you see most actively sponsored by people like us that are into yachting?



I think the charities that are supported by people who are interested in yachting are ones where the sport can add value to the cause over and above exposure. They might be environmentally based or allow a disadvantaged sector of society to participate. The charities that have been most visible in sailing over the last 12 months or so include: Toe in the Water, the Ellen MacArthur Trust, the RNLI, save the Albatross and Sail4cancer, but I am sure there are others like the Even Keel Project that would attract support from sailors.



2- If I gave you 5 million dollars what area of charity would you support?



Charity is quite personal. It’s extremely difficult to determine whether one cause is more worthy or deserving than another, so issues that touch you personally tend to be prioritised. I would tend to favour charities that are active in changing people’s lives for the better rather than those that are primarily awareness campaigns. I’d probably spread the 5 million around a bit rather than give it to a single cause.



3- If I gave you 1 million dollars and you had to give it to 1 charity what would it be?


For purely personal reasons I would support a mental health charity like Mind or SANE.



4- What are some of your personal feelings with regards to charity and philanthropy from your viewpoint?


For better or worse, charity is becoming big business. Ironically, those charities that are the most commercial are doing the best. Having worked on the branding and marketing for several charities I know that there are complex issues around the subject and that different people give to charity for different reasons. I have a perception that there is still a lot of waste in the sector and much of the money doesn’t get to the intended recipients. It is certainly not true of all charities – I met a woman the other day who walked to her meetings so that the charity would not have to pay for her train fare, but my perception is still that things are not being done as efficiently as they could be. The internet will probably change that.

Thanks for the quick responces from www.yachtsponsorship.com

Slogan for a charity?

(picture a large group of people working together for something you feel strongly about - people making a difference - people working hard - for something you really care about)

Now---

How do you feel about this as a slogan for a charity?

"Teamwork makes the dreamwork"

What other ideas do you have for slogans for any kind of charity?

Thank you for your input - you are all GREAT and BRILLIANT!

Park benches

(Picture here in your mind a perfect outdoor setting on a perfect day and sitting on a bench that you dedicated in memorial to someone important to you)

How do you feel about park benches being sponsored by family members? There is a local park near me and they allow people to "sponsor" a bench and what you get through that type of sponsorship is a brand new bench gets put in with an engraved metal place to put a family members name and a short saying. How do you feel about something like that as a way of "charitable" giving?



Optional reading bellow:

I have enjoyed reading the responces. My goals are large in the area of charity and philanthropy. (at some point when "we" get to know eachother better I will outline them in great detail) The more I research and get opinions the more I care about other people in what feels like a genuine way. I want to thank everyone that has posted here so far by giving back by sharing.

I hope each of you has an amazing day filled with all the things that your deepest hearts desire.

Best regards

Microloans in charity?

(Picture a third world country starved person with a big smile and a wad of cash in their hand to buy a business tool)

How do you feel about the concept of "micro-loans" as a form of charity? Micro-loans are loaning money to third world country businesses with the idea of helping them to get a start in business. They are often for things like a sewing machine or something small. How do you feel about this as a form of charity?



Optional reading bellow
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I hope that the people that have posted here thus far will help me to grow the viewership of this blog. I appriciate suggestions even if I do not agree with all of them.



Best regards and thank you again for reading!

1 simple question.

Picture this: you writing a check to your favorite charity for 1 million dollars.

What feelings do you think you would have if you were able to write a check for 1 million dollars all at once to a charity of your choice?


Bellow is optional reading:
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I am building this blog with the idea of helping as many charities and "noble" - I like that word- causes as possible which include helping to empower people with positive thoughts rather than negative ones.

When you are here and you post you are now doing a charitable work.

Another real easy one...Is this charity?

(picture me doing something really nice for someone else here)

- There is a term I use called OMTHS -

It stands for out of my way to help someone - it is similar to a random act of kindness but it is going out of my way whether it be business, personal or a total stranger.

Is this a form of charity in your viewpoint?

Flyfishing charity?

(picture - a group of men fly fishing on a perfect day half of them are cancer patients)

Yesterday I was speaking to a a business associate in another state and he told me about a charity that works with male cancer patients. --- But the twist on it was that they took people men fly fishing. I am not into fishing but what I found interesting is they had more volunteers than they had cancer victims.... The charity was set up so that a cancer patient would have a fly fishing buddy.

He did tell me there was one for women too. What do you think about charities like this one?

http://www.reelrecovery.org/

4 easy charity questions

Answer any of these 4 - I am interested

What do you think of the phrase charity starts at home?

If you were going to give to just one charity which one would it be?

What do you think of The Red Cross?

What do you think about donating time versus donating money?

The challenge of this blog!

I have been told
#1 I will never get high traffic on this blog without posting pictures
#2 philanthropy is boring - you need to blog about something exciting
#3 I hate the colors of your screen they are annoying
#4 You need to have more things going on

I am not sure that I agree.

What do you think?

Getting to know people in charity and philanthropy

As I am meeting people and talking to them... the question I always am asking myself is I wonder what they are really like.

Clearly I do not get to go through the whole formula but I work in envisioning the answers:

Here is a formula that I came up with to really get to know someone:

4-4-4-4

-Speak to at least 4 people
-Each of them has known the person I am getting to know at least 4 years
-And then I they have 4 drinks
-Then I ask them 4 deep questions

What formula or idea do you have to get to know people not just in charity or philanthropy but in any area?

Philanthropy

I have researched about 1,400 charities and met with at least 100 ceo/founders to find the types of charities that I want to be part of for the long term. The only people that I have found that blog much about Philanthropy do not have many blog followers. Why do you think that is?