After months of our TV screens being assulted by angry faces at healthcare reform town hall meetings, shouting head tea baggers and finally a Falcon that never actually flew but whose parents probably will be grounded for awhile, it was such a relief to learn that our TV’s have actually begun bringing us some good news in the form of an industrywide initiative aimed at inspiring viewers to give back to their communities. The creative force behind the iniative is none other than one of Hollywoods major charitable oraganizations, Entertainment Industry Foundation. I personally have had experince working with EIF and their chief executive Lisa Paulson on behalf on the company I work for, Fender Musical Instruments Corp. with our support of various music industry fund-rasiers so I knew this was a company that could pull off something as dynamic and massive as iParticipate. Inspired by the call for volenterism from both presedential candidates at a service forum in 2008, Paulson and EIF board Chairwoman Sherry Lansing decided to put their resources and know-how to the task.
How does it work?
Stars from the four major networks - CBC, NBC, ABC and FOX - taped public service announcements promoting service and voluteering. But here’s the real breakthrough - storylines scripted into the shows themselves incorporate a varity of causes calling for voluteerism. That’s not uncommon is the world of product placement, where millions of dollars are spent by companies to have their brands integrated into the show. But to have this done as a nationwide charitable initiative with paticipation by major networks, stars and studios is postitivley unprecedented. I know how important it is to support local iniatives in your own community and believe me, you can make a difference. I’m just not talking about working with EIF, but also in my local community where my wife Bettina is on the board of an amazing charitable oraganization called the Unforgettables, which enables low-income familes in the inland empire (approx. 60 miles east of Los Angeles) to give their children a dignified burial. That doesn’t sound like there would be a large need for voluenteers for this organization, but whether it’s due to the current economic downturn or not, the Unforgettables provided for 43 burials in our county in just the past month alone.
The title of this blog comes from a chapter in my book that was inspired by the late great CEO of Fender, Bill Schultz, who encouraged us to support local and national charities utilzing Fender’s resources, but never to promote Fender - he told us, in others words, if you’re going to do it, do it for the right reasons.
For more information on how you can volunteer in your community, go to:
It’s always a fine line that’s walked between using your branding power to raise awareness of issues/worthy charities while at the same time not appearing to be self-serving. It can easily be a no-win situation to be a large corporation or wealthy individual when it comes to charities, because if you give “privately” people assume you don’t give at all but if you give publicly you’re pandering/patting yourself on the back. And of course even when people are aware of your philanthropy there will always be complaints that it’s never enough. All the while many of these folks don’t give much themselves…
There will be those that complain otherwise, but I feel that the networks, in cooperation with EIF, have done a good job in that regard. At least what I’ve seen.