The Rest of the Story
Let's take a few minutes today to follow-up on some of the items I've been following in recent weeks:
- Everywhere I turned last week, I saw PETA waging a successful PR campaign around the Michael Vick case. They were out in front, picketing the NFL offices, the courthouse in Virginia, and the Atlanta Falcons' training camp. I bet they raised a ton of money. But I read this morning that when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wanted to learn more about this issue, to better combat it in his league, he turned to the ASPCA. I suspect he never considered meeting with PETA due to their zealousness, negative image with many, and absolute refusal to compromise on any animal-related issue. I imagine that most animal rights activists like having both types of groups on their side, but I wonder which one does more good in the long run.
- The Blogathon reported that they raised $120,000 for charities over the weekend. Given that these are just pledges, and they have to be a) collected by the bloggers, and b) then sent to a charity, I'll be surprised if the actual amount delivered is anywhere near that amount, but it's still a cool idea.
- I wrote last week about a Salvation Army chapter in California that seemed to have a little problem with one of their employees stealing their money. Over the weekend, my colleague Sandra Minutti commented in a Rochester, New York paper about the branch up there that has been labeled "callous" by some members of the community.
- The IRS appointed someone to take over for the guy who left the IRS to go to the Red Cross after he replaced the guy who left the IRS to join the Red Cross. I give the new person at the IRS at least 60 days before she leaves to join the Red Cross.
- When I wrote about Keep A Child Alive's decision to be first in line in New York City to buy the iPhone, I called their subsequent PR efforts "savvy" and smart." You can add "successful" to that list, as they were able to sell the phone on eBay for a cool $100,000.
Labels: American Red Cross, ASPCA, eBay, Goodell, iPhone, IRS, Keep a Child Alive, Mark Everson, Michael Vick, PETA
posted by Trent Stamp at 2:33 PM
5 Comments:
Have you been viewing the comments and messages on the Katrina Home Drive web site concerning the American Red Cross? I attempted to verify exactly how much of each dollar received into the Red Cross Katrina Relief Fund went to the Katrina survivors. The Red Cross told me 97% of each dollar went to assistance. However, there are too many posts and emails from persons who were turned away or turned down when they sought help from the Red Cross. Exactly what is the truth regarding the Red Cross Katrina Relief Fund or the Katrina Means to Recovery?
A quick review of the bids for the $100,000 iphone auction shows that the top four bidders have zero feedback. This is a warning sign.
Select "22 bids" on the auction page. Mouse over the details on the right to see what I'm talking about. Sadly, the four highest bids will probably turn out to be phony. Phony bids by are generally placed by one or more pranksters.
The first legit bid is probably the fifth bidder, at $5,300. Phony bids are especially rotten because they prevent legit donors from bidding, say, $6,000.
Still $5,300 isn't bad for a day's work assuming THAT bidder decides to "Do The Right Thing."
I agree.
Though many groups who do their work in a way that generates negative reactions from the public, may accomplish the goal of obtaining publicity for their cause, they often do reduce their actual effectiveness at changing policy in the long term.
The New York Times' Dining section has an interesting analysis of how animal rights groups have influnced food:
food:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/dining/25sanc.html?ref=dining
Sorry I missed this two days ago - Blogathon bloggers don't touch the money that they solicit.
Neither does the Blogathon organization - it goes straight from the donor to their selected charity.
Provided that the pledger turns into a donor, of course.
-- Mister Ed, Human Assistant to
Tucker the Siberian Husky
p.s. Thanks for the earlier plug!
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