|
CORPORATE CHARITY OR DIRECT GIVING?
AIDS, global warming, marriage equality — open the newspaper today, and you will see all sorts of causes which need the support of charities and non-profits, all of which are running on far too little cash. The bulk of donations to these organizations come from individuals, but in recent years a new player has joined in the advertising game — corporations.
Some companies, like The Body Shop, Ben and Jerry’s and Product(RED), partner with non-profit organizations and create their own foundations and campaigns to fight everything from sex trafficking to animal testing to global warming. Others advocate directly through their own business practices, like Lucky, which has just started using reusable plastic bags that are non-toxic and take less water to make than paper. While these companies are to be applauded, they are still businesses that are trying to make money, and are donating as much to get you to buy more of their stuff as to help a cause.
GIVE AND TAKE
Some companies have devised a simple plan: consumers buy products to help a certain cause, and the company then donates a certain amount of the profits to that cause. Yoplait, a part of the General Mills corporation, guarantees a donation of $500,000 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to fighting breast cancer, and will donate up to $1.5 million dollars more, but only if pink yogurt cup lids, worth 10 cents each, are sent in by consumers who have bought the yogurt and pay postage for the lids themselves.
Dawn dishwashing liquid, a part of the Proctor and Gamble corporation, does something similar: it will donate up to $500,000 to the Marine Mammal Center and the International Bird Rescue Research Center if you buy a bottle of its dish soap and “activate” your $1 donation online. This tactic was even recently used at Lowell: on Oct. 21, the junior class had “Chubi Day,” on which juniors with flyers could go to Chevy’s or Nubi, and 15 percent of the profits from the purchases they made went to the school. Lowell got a healthy sum of money, and Chevy’s and Nubi were heavily advertised in the bargain.
PRODUCT RED
One of the most heavily advertised giving movements is not a charity at all. Product(RED), founded by U2 frontman and Bono and philanthropist Bobby Shriver, is a business model which tries to harness the power of consumerism to do good. Many high-profile companies, including Apple, Converse, and Starbucks, have partnered with Product(RED) to create (RED) iPods, computers, shoes, bags and clothes, which are sold at retail price with no extra costs. The money donated from (RED) product profits goes directly to the Global Fund, which fights AIDS in Africa through the purchase and distribution of antiretroviral medicine.
Although the Global Fund has seen a financial boost since Product(RED) was created, some have criticized Product(RED) for the inefficiency of their donations, and for not being clear enough about how much money goes to the Fund per purchase. One Web site, buylesscrap.com, spoofs the company with fake Gap-like ads reading “Point(LESS)” and “Meaning(LESS)” and encourages people to donate directly to the Global Fund and other organizations. “(Product(RED) should) adopt reformed contribution models that make clear how much money goes to the Global Fund with each purchase — replacing the current models that do not,” Ben Davis, the site’s founder, said in an open letter to Shriver. “Consumers require the confidence of knowing exactly how much money goes to charity with each purchase.”
REAL LOVE
But the company that takes the cake in ice cream advocacy is Ben and Jerry’s, whose mission has been to promote fiscal, social and environmental responsibility since 1976. From freezers using hydro-carbon refrigeration, which are at least 10 percent more energy efficient than most freezers, to buying its brownies from a bakery in Yonkers, N.Y., which provides employment and support services to poor people, Ben and Jerry’s is one of a few major companies to advocate through their own business practices as well as through donations or sponsorships. In 2008, it gave over $1.8 million to non-profit organizations and has also worked with larger organizations like Peace One Day and with celebrities whose profits go towards a good cause, such as Willie Nelson and Dave Matthews Band, according to Liz Stewart, Public Relations Grasshopper for Ben and Jerry’s.
The Body Shop is also serious about doing good. With a set of five values ranging from banning animal testing to defending human rights to protecting the planet, The Body Shop supports a pantheon of causes by supporting fair-trade practices, making a cruelty-free alternative to musk, selling their products in bottles made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic, and running a global Stop Violence in The Home campaign that has been raising domestic abuse awareness for ten years.
But while both of these companies should be praised for the good they do, consumers may not be aware that the companies’ motives might not be entirely selfless. That reusable bag you buy from The Body Shop may bring two dollars to the Somaly Mam foundation, which liberates and empowers victims of sex trafficking, but it also has The Body Shop logo on both sides of the bag. Could you have taken those five dollars you spent on the bag and given it directly to Somaly Mam? These campaigns do promote important causes and the benefits of giving in general, but some might ask why the companies cannot just donate without advertising their good deeds. Where do you draw the line between a good deed and a good advertising tactic?
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
Some students buy charitable products even if they are not convinced by the companies who are selling them. Freshman Quinn Francis bought a Gap (RED) shirt at an AIDS walk as a memento, even though she is not persuaded by Gap’s charitable instincts. “From what I’ve heard, they’re not donating massive amounts,” she said. “It’s not so much about donating to charity as it is about turning a profit.”
Others help the community by donating time instead. Junior Lisa Truong volunteers every Saturday morning at St. John’s Harvest, a church program which gives food to low-income residents of the Richmond district. “It doesn’t take up too much time, and you feel good afterward,” she said. “It feels really fulfilling, and when you come out of it you know you’ve done something good for your community.”
So if that extra cash is burning a hole in your pocket and you do not know what to do with it, think about donating it directly to a charity that means a lot to you, or volunteering for a couple of hours instead of shopping. As Truong puts it, “It helps more directly than just buying something.” |
