Giving? Make Sure You Get What's Yours
I've been on a bit of break from my years of pointing out the foibles of #embeddedgiving - or what the industry calls cause marketing. Two things bring it back to my attention:
1. Amazon's gotten into the game. This is huge because Amazon is, well, Amazonian. Earlier this week the online retailing behemoth announced that it's AmazonSmile program would let shoppers donate 0.5% of their purchase price to the charities of their choice. That's nice. But why don't they just give you the discount, let you donate the money to the charity of your choice, and let you keep the warm glow, credit, and tax break for yourself? By funneling it through Amazon are you making your life easier or are you just letting Amazon take credit for your largess?
Why do you need an intermediary to give away your money? Just about any organization you want to support has a Donate Now button of their own.
When you take Amazon up on its 0.5% donation, guess who gets credit for the donation? Amazon. Credit for your spending your money. Hmmm. And the costs Amazon incurs to run this program? Where do you think they'll show up and to whom will they be passed on? What an irony - call it a discount, take all the credit, and pass on any additional costs for running the program to customers somewhere else. This is what really happens with embedded giving.
2. Breast cancer awareness fatigue. Finally, this has been building for years and the pink-ization of everything is finally getting some of the backlash it's long deserved. See this article in The Guardianfor a well-written commentary, there are many, many others.
Embedded giving runs directly counter to efforts to build strategic and effective philanthropy and more accountable nonprofits. It puts intermediaries where none are needed, complicates (if not obfuscates) feedback mechanisms, and is almost entirely unaccounted for and unaccountable.
Please, this holiday season, give. If you want to be part of something, be part of #GivingTuesday. But get what's yours when you give by giving directly to the organizations of your choice.
Read more coverage of Giving Tuesday:
- Bill Gates: What I Really Want for Christmas
- Matthew Bishop: Forget the Selfie. Let's Make 2013 the Year of the Unselfie.
- Beth Kanter: Live Chat -- Making the Most of Giving This Holiday Season
- Charles Best: Get More Out of Giving
- Beth Kanter: How Sharing Best Practices Is Building A Global Philanthropic Movement
- Adam Grant: The Gift We Love to Receive But Forget to Give
- Lucy Bernholz: Giving? Make Sure You Get What's Yours
Photo: John Rensten / Getty Images
Founding Director at the IST Group
11 年Great thoughts on embedded giving. A recommended read for consumers everywhere.
finance adviser at Help and care for children
11 年Valerie Mbanda YOU finance adviser at Help and care for children "Since almost fifty years, Cameroon is making efforts to educate its youths and this is not an easy task. In fact, the consequences of the economic crisis and some public finance stabilisation measures, economic liberalisation and structural reforms have significant consequences on social sectors. The living standards of the population have significantly decreased. As far as the stabilisation of public finance is concerned, the government has reduced its staff wages through the freeing of financial effects of promotion in the public service, the suppression of some advantages related to responsibility posts, the decrease of nominal wages, the accumulation of outstanding and budget restrictions in social areas such as education, health, nutrition and access to drinking water. These measures led to the degradation of basic services. Thus, the decrease of the budget for public infrastructures led to the entire ruin of sanitary infrastructures in primary schools in Cameroon. Considering the deterioration of sanitary infrastructures in primary schools, and considering the fact that children between 3 and 12 years old are part of the population that needs special care and have right to education, health and protection by the whole society, as stated in the Convention on children’s rights, The HELP AND CARE FOR CHILDREN association committed itself to improving the living conditions of the pupils in schools Toilettes et sanitaires en milieu scolaire Au Cameroun www.youtube.com Une vidéo"