Is Procter & Gamble Hijacking a Charity Drive?

P%26glogo.jpg American Express developed an interesting promotional tool that combines good press and good works with a dash of American Idol-style competition thrown in for good measure. The Members Project has been a winnowing contest where AmEx cardholders (or "members") have selected five charitable causes from a large number of entries. The single charitable project that then receives the most votes among the five will receive as much as $5 million from American Express to continue its work. Some people are now complaining that Procter & Gamble, which currently hold a sizable lead as the voting window is near its close, has hijacked the competition to make itself look good at the expense of smaller non-profits to whom $5 million would make a huge difference.

The second-place project is DonorsChoose.org, set up by a social studies teacher in the Bronx. Operating out of a loft on 36th St., DonorsChoose matches teacher's individual requests for school supplies with individuals donations. The New York Times described it as a sort of online dating service between donors and recipients. Currently holding a formidable lead, however, is a project to provide potable water for third world children. If that project wins, the prize money would go to fund an ongoing project with Unicef and P&G to supply water purifiers at cost. P&G doesn't stand to profit from the enterprise, but it does generate goodwill for the corporation. Critics don't understand why a company with tens of billions of dollars in annual revenues is muscling in on the AmEx contest that aims to benefit non-profit organizations with a minute fraction of the resources at their disposal as P&G. The Assimilated Negro has a thorough list of links to sites covering the controversy.

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By Dave Hogarty in News on August 4, 2007 5:20 PM

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veronicawatts303

I hope the issue be clear as soon as possible because many person are able to misunderstand everything. I hope everything will be okay so no people will be affected.

Veronica Watts,
Donate a Car
Wheels for Wishes

guest

11:02 - Your comment is absurd. Are you an NYC public school teacher? I am. And while there is gross mismanagement of resources in many schools, the idea that teachers have too many supplies is ridiculous. The supplies provided by schools generally amounts to some borders and paper for bulletin boards since those are what is judged by the district. Meaningful supplies that actually contribute to instruction are hard to come by.

Furthermore, Donors Choose is an amazing organization that provides opportunities for New York's children that they would not otherwise have, and the materials purchased through DC are vastly different than the typical pencils and pens and whatnot you may be thinking of. The proposals are also generally submitted by highly motivated and exceptional teachers who go above and beyond by doing things like submitting proposals to DC. I submitted several proposals that were funded through DC and my students benefitted greatly and were extremely lucky that such an organization exists. I purchased 6 digital cameras, a photo printer, and Photoshop through Donors Choose and was able to found an after school photo program that benefitted dozens of children and had a significant impact on the lives of many of them. I also was able to take 144 children from the South Bronx on three day camping trips that exposed many of the students to nature for the first time in their lives. Experiences like that aren't often provided by your typical school's budget.

guest

a project seemingly so noble in its intentions.

This is a PR and marketing stunt from a credit card company. You're skeptical of P&G but not AmEx? Interesting filtering system you have. How about AmEx take the money they spend on celebrity endorsers and give that to charity?

Brooklyn Book Worm

First of all, let's get the spelling right: ProctER and Gamble. It's as often mispelled as Cincinnati, the company's home. P & G is the world's largest and most profitable producer of household goods. The correct spelling is in your kitchen and/or your bathroom right now.

As for the AMEX "Members' Project," several of the proposals depended on corporate initiatives or even government agencies: the National Park Service's plea for supplemental funds made it to the final five. Much as I admire the initiative of those teachers in the Bronx, P & G, as a multi-national marketer, has a long record of delivering essential products to the Third World at the lowest possible cost.

The voting is still open to any cardholder who logs on to the AMEX site.

guest

nyc public teachers have way too many supplies as is - I've known more than one case where supplies are pilfered before they go to students. Look at the Catholic school teachers, they give the same education and for the most part are given NO money for supplies - thats a silly charity imho

guest

I think it's great that people are skeptical of P&G, whatever level of involvement they have with this project. It's sad that we have to sniff these things out in a project seemingly so noble in its intentions.

But I think it needs to be said that access to potable drinking water might be THE biggest problem in the world that we can actually solve by throwing gobs of money at the problem. We can't directly solve global warming by simply opening our wallets - but we can help others get the ONE BILLION people in the world who are subject to illnesses, and developmental maladies, and immune deficiencies, clean drinking water simply by providing money.