A resource for corporations & other businesses
that want to make a commitment to social responsibility
by Jayne Cravens
  via coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com (same web site)


Advice for Celebrity Philanthropy & Activism


This page, and all the pages in this section of my web site, are based on my philosophy about CSR, which is quite different than the advice of other consultants.

Are you a celebrity - someone famous, someone with name-recognition and, perhaps, some wealth to spare - who wants to use his or her fame and money and influence for good? Are you overwhelmed by requests to be a spokesperson, participant in a charity event, or make a financial donation? Perhaps you want to start a foundation that makes grants to others or undertakes its own activities - or improve the one you have already?
 

Many celebrities see their fame as an opportunity to help improve people's lives, encourage better treatment of the environment, address an injustice, even to advance legislation, and it's a tradition for celebrities to champion causes and lend their name to help various charitable or activist causes.
 

But many celebrities don't think strategically about the philanthropic and activist activities they might want to undertake. The result of not being strategic may be wasted energy and even negative publicity, despite the best of intentions. And some celebrities are so overwhelmed with requests to contribute in some way to a charitable effort, human rights campaign or environmental cause that they just say no to everything rather than try to screen and evaluate them all.
 

This web page is meant to give celebrities, or their staff members, some very basic resources to help their philanthropy and activist activities be effective, actually make a positive difference and not be completely overwhelming.
 

Celebrity philanthropy and activism takes many forms. A person with some fame to his or her name may:
 

  • Publicly donate financially to nonprofits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), schools and other endeavors 
  • Privately, anonymously donate to such
  • Publicly engage in activism for a cause, talking about the cause in interviews, serving as a spokesperson for an organization, meeting with politicians, lobbying for legislation or changes in public policies, etc.
  • Volunteer discreetly, with no publicity, or serving on a board of directors or advisory board
  • Volunteer in a high-profile, public way, such as serving as a spokesperson 
  • Attend events by nonprofits, NGOs or other organizations promoting a cause
  • Donating signed photos, signed scripts, movie props, etc. to a charity auction
  • commitments and demonstrated action regarding responsible or sustainable environmental practices, pay equality, safe working environments, etc., beyond what is required by law


Examples of philanthropic efforts by various celebrities.

 

Note the incredible variety of ways different celebrities engage in philanthropy:
 

Geena Davis founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
 

Amy Poehler's Smart Girls
 

Prince Quietly Helped Afghan Orphans for Years
 

Profile of Richard Gere's philanthropic activities in insidephilanthropy.com
 

Dolly Parton's literacy program, Imagination Library
 

A blog that profiles the philanthropic efforts of NFL players Madieu Williams, Nnamdi Asomugha and Israel Idonije
 

Charles Grodin's, who has volunteered with inmates at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in New York and who advocates for prison sentencing reform.
 

Isabel Allende Foundation, which primarily supports nonprofits in California and Chile that provide vulnerable women and children with access to reproductive care, healthcare, education and protection from violence.
 

Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF). Founded in 1942, nonprofit highlights the work of a variety of celebrities regarding a range of causes.
 

Insidephilanthropy.com profiles a variety of celebrity foundations via its Glitzy Giving list and its list of the top 20 philanthropists of color (2016).


 

Getting Started on Making Philanthropic Activities Impactful


If you want to use your money, fame and/or influence for good, or plan your philanthropic activities more strategically, where do you begin?
 

Accept That You Have Limits

 

You cannot support every cause you care about. No one can.
 

Create an Overall Purpose Statement for Your Philanthropy & Activism

 

Just like a business, you should think carefully about defining the purpose of your philanthropic activities and have an overall philosophy or mission for such. A purpose statement or mission statement helps you focus your philanthropy and activism in a more meaningful way and allows you to say "no" more easily - and you are going to be saying "no" a LOT. Creating a purpose statement helps a celebrity target philanthropy and activism so that the person's activities can have maximum impact on a particular cause, or set of causes, or community, or set of communities.
 

You can define an initial mission or purpose for your philanthropy and activism, hold on to it for a year or two, and then revisit it and revise it - don't think that your first mission statement forever. What's more important about trying to have a perfect purpose statement right from the start is simply creating something simple, a work-in-progress statement that provides some boundaries for you for a year or two.
 

Start by making a list of issues that you have a personal connection with. Did you benefit in some way from a music program in your school? From a program that gave you access to a sport or the theater? From a mentor who steered you in the right direction? From having access to a playground? Did you face challenges that harmed you in your life: experiences with domestic violence, with lack of good nutrition, with lack of access to a library, with lack of access to a safe, clean green space, with homelessness, with discrimination, etc.? Don't make this list in just one day: make the list and add to it over many days. As you revisit and update your list, the causes you most want to support will probably emerge. Remember that you can always add to the list of causes you support - it's just a good idea to pick just one or two, or very few, to start. You may already feel strongly about an issue that you have no personal connection with but you know you want to support it. That's okay too!
 

Think about what you would want success to look like in supporting a particular cause. Your support for people experiencing homelessness isn't going to solve homelessness, but would you be satisfied with your support for programs that reduce the number of homeless children in a particular community? Your support for programs that help women experiencing domestic violence isn't going to stop all domestic violence, but would you be satisfied with the launch of the first and only nonprofit in a community helping these women?
 

Consider visiting some nonprofits engaged in the kinds of activities you want to support. Feel free to request that such visits and meetings be done with no publicity, but do remember that you are taking up the time of staff, so consider making a small donation to any nonprofit you visit as a way to cover that time spent briefing you about their work and the issue they address.
 

I would love to help you prepare your CSR mission statement, identify or expand CSR activities, create relationships with nonprofits and other organizations and create effective ways to administer and evaluate your overall philanthropic activities.
 

Picking Programs to Support


Picking actual nonprofits, NGOs, school and specific programs to support can be overwhelming. Some celebrities, like Prince and George Michael, personally chose which programs and people to support, as causes came to their attention, and provided that support quietly, on their own, with no publicity at all while they were alive. Some celebrities set up foundations with at least one staff person that fields funding proposals from various nonprofits and charities, chooses finalists and then meets with the celebrity founder to make the final decisions about funding.

 

You or your foundation (if you have such) should consider hiring a person who is dedicated to researching any nonprofit, NGO, school or specific program you are considering for support, even if your support will be as simple as writing a letter of endorsement the organization can use in its promotional materials. That person should be able to:

 

If you are just starting philanthropic activities, I strongly recommend you start your activities with something simple and local, so you and those you are going to charge with managing your philanthropic endeavors can learn how to manage these activities, get a sense after a year or so of what works best, build relationships with nonprofits, schools, etc. That also allows a celebrity and the representatives of such to grow activities more organically and reach some small successes quickly. 

A celebrity also needs to consider philanthropic activities during disasters - in the aftermath of a flood, fire, earthquake, hurricane, tornado or any widespread disaster, especially one that affects the communities you care about. This resource for corporations on how to cope with community disasters / emergency appeals will help a celebrity as well in thinking about how to prepare, now, for helping in a disaster later - otherwise, you will scramble for how to respond and, potentially, create more wasted than helpful effort.

I would love to help you think about your first steps in philanthropy, in identifying or expanding your philanthropic activities, creating relationships with nonprofits and other organizations and creating effective ways to administer and evaluate your overall philanthropic activities.



Respect the Expertise of Nonprofits, NGOs, Teachers, etc.


This shouldn't be a celebrity telling area nonprofits, "Here's what you should be doing..." It means listening to the staff of those nonprofits as they try to address a community's most critical needs and hearing both their ideas for their solutions and their funding needs. It means nonprofits, including schools, feeling so comfortable with a celebrity or the representatives of such because of the relationships that celebrity has built that staff can say, "Here are what we would like to see your support focusing on..."
 

Policies & administration


You need to have policies and procedures for the various aspects of your philanthropic endeavors - how requests for funding, for event participation, for in-kind donations, for volunteering, etc. -  should be reviewed and processed. You also need excellent accounting for every dollar donated and how that money is spent. I would love to help you, your staff or your foundation prepare its policies and administrative structure for your philanthropic activities.
 

If you are going to support efforts regarding women and girls empowerment, you need to make sure any company you are a part of is committed to gender equity in pay and promotions. If you are going to support responsible or sustainable environmental practices, you need to make sure any company you are a part of, as well as the houses you live, are using responsible and sustainable environmental practices - if you promote solar energy, you had best be relying on solar energy yourself. Look at how any company or household you are a part of is - or isn't - recycling and think about any contradictions you may be exhibiting in relation to the causes you are supporting.


Promoting Your Philanthropic Endeavors - or Not


As noted earlier, some celebrities prefer to make donations or otherwise support a cause quietly, with little or no publicity. Others are comfortable with some publicity, so long as it highlights the cause they are supporting as much as their support for such. And others are comfortable with a great deal of publicity in association with their philanthropy: photos, event attendance.

The danger in promoting your activities the wrong way is that it can be seen as "vanity volunteering" - an endeavor designed mostly to make you look good, not to have actual impact or help people. That can lead to negative publicity, rather than the positive image you might desire. Note the backlash against celebrities who seem to have sought out opportunities for photos of themselves with black African orphans - an image that can reinforce colonialist ideas and even white supremacy.

I would love to help you think about how best to promote and talk about your philanthropy in ways that give you your desired results.

  Discuss this web page, or comment on it, here.


  Quick Links 

   my home page
 
 my consulting services  &  my workshops & presentations
 
 my credentials & expertise

 Affirmation that this is web site is created & managed by a human.
 
 My book: The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook

 contact me   or   see my schedule
 
 Free Resources: Community Outreach, With & Without Tech

 Free Resources: On Community Engagement, Volunteering & Volunteerism

 Free Resources: Technology Tips for Non-Techies

 Free Resources: Nonprofit, NGO & other mission-based management resources

 Free Resources: Web Development, Maintenance, Marketing for non-Web designers

 Free Resources: Corporate philanthropy / social responsibility programs

 Free Resources: For people & groups that want to volunteer
 
 linking to or from my web site
 
 The Coyote Helps Foundation
 
 me on social media (follow me, like me, put me in a circle, subscribe to my newsletter)

support my workhow to support my work

To know when I have developed a new resource related to the above subjects, found a great resource by someone else, published a new blog or a new Tech4Impact email newsletter, uploaded a new video,
or to when & where I'm training or presenting, use any of the following social media apps to follow me on any of these social media platforms:

like me on Facebook      follow me on Twitter    Mastodon logo    follow me on Reddit    follow me on LinkedIn     view my YouTube
                videos


Disclaimer: No guarantee of accuracy or suitability is made by the poster/distributor of the materials on this web site.
This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied warranty or liability.

See my web site's privacy policy.

Permission is granted to copy, present and/or distribute a limited amount of material from my web site without charge if the information is kept intact and without alteration, and is credited to:

Jayne Cravens
          & Coyote Communications, www.coyotebroad.com

Otherwise, please contact me for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials (for instance, in a class or book or online event for which you intend to charge).

The art work and material on this site was created and is copyrighted 1996-2024
by Jayne Cravens, all rights reserved
(unless noted otherwise, or the art comes from a link to another web site).