Golden Hearts or Gilded Intentions: How Celebrities Impact Charities

Something's naturally have perfect complements: salt and pepper, peanut butter and jelly, and oil and vinegar; while other unexpected pairs yield phenomenal outcomes like peaches and cream or strawberries and chocolate. Similarly in a previous post, I examined how the merge between two prominent pillars of society, technology and philanthropy, has completely restructured the non-profit world and has resulted in scrumptious profits for many online charities. Social networking is built upon the fundamental psychological principle that all people need to belong. Whether it's the feeling of being connected with buddies on campus, tweeting daily updates, or poking a friend to say hello- humans have an inherent desire to know what people around them are doing. Furthermore, when celebrities are integrated into social media Americans vigilantly observe every action, voraciously devour what they see, and are oftentimes painstakingly driven to emulate the star that they are most fascinated by. Thereby celebrities become "role models" passing their behaviors and beliefs to their admiring fans. On one hand this can be a beneficial tool to inspire viewers to follow suit with reputable stars, while on the other hand placing celebrities on the top tier of an illusionary hierarchy can cause viewers to behave recklessly and demean the institute of charity.

The first report I chose to comment on is called "Smackdown for Charity," a ten day competition that occurred last month in which celebrities promoted their favorite cause in order to raise the most money for their charity of choice. The event was promoted on several social networking sites and allows participants to interact with stars in a more intimate way as well as have more control over the causes they support. Stars like Alec Balwin, who supports Actor's Fund of America, and Brea Grant, who is a supporter of the Girl's Rock Camp Austin, explain the tenants of the organization they support as well as share their passion for the specific charity. By providing insight to the audience, celebrities make themselves more personable and are able to engage and incite competition among viewers. Thus an individual may be motivated to donate because he or she feels strongly for the cause Save the Whales or an individual may donate because he or she is a Hayden Panettiere (pictured left sporting a poster for her favorite cause) fanactic and wants Team Panettiere to triumph in the challenge.

Celebrities Go Head-To-Head For Charities:

Thank you for the brief yet informative report on Smackdown for Charity. While technology has vastly increased the success of fundraising, this event was uniquely successful because not only does the utilization of social media create accessible information to a large demographic of participants but it also integrates celebrities to captivate users to join the cause. By incorporating celebrities in philanthropy, charities correspondingly are able to make themselves more marketable for to the public. In this way celebrities become figureheads for a charity and cause admirers to identify with the organization. A well-known and reputable star has the ability to transform the appeal of an organization, which translates into more attention and donations. For example, model Molly Sims and singer actress Jessica Simpson are both celebrity ambassadors for the organization Operation Smile. The seamless match between the charismatic and beautiful celebrity representatives along with the aim of the organization to heal children's smiles present a well rounded and appealing charity that hits the public's soft spot and moves them to give to the cause. Picking the right spokesperson for the organization is of central importance in order to accurately represent the cause and broadly relate to the public. Websites such as Look to the Stars examine the world of celebrity giving with frequent updates about which charities celebrities support, promote, and attend. Reports about athletes mentoring children, actresses auctioning dresses worn on the red carpet or donating clothing from their personal closet, and singers volunteering to perform at a charity gala are common headliners on the website's news tab. With such a broad array of celebrities, each individual has a particular skill set that makes them most suitable for a particular organization. The most important feature necessary to inspire and mobilize the public to support a particular cause is that the audience must believe that the celebrity believes in the cause. Therefore selecting a celebrity that both fits the profile and passionately supports the organization, positively impacts philanthropy by inspiring American's to follow suit and do the same things the celebrities they admire are doing.

The next report I chose to comment on discusses Khloe Kardashian's recent reckless behavior and I will explain how celebrities- especially the wrong ones-can be detrimental to philanthropy and demean the institute of charity.

Khloe Kardashian Gets Fired On Apprentice For DUI:

While Donald Trump's decisions to fire Khloe Kardashian because she was irresponsibly drunk driving seems hypocritical judging by his lenience on former underage drinking Miss America, I felt the most glaring flaw of the whole situation is that Khloe Kardashian is getting publicity from it. Unlike celebrities who do good for community out of compassion, sincerity, and desire- Ms Kardashian is being mandated to do community service and on to of that being commended for it! Whether reality television is the vice in this situation is unknown, but what is known is that many public celebrities are adored for nothing and falsely given the limelight to be viewed as a role model. Examine what Khloe Kardashian is famous for: having a father who was a lawyer in the OJ trial, having a sister who posed for Playboy, and being a part of a reality series in which her families life of glamour and dysfunction is broadcasted across America- clearly a gem of a choice to be a poster child for society. Sarcasm aside, Khloe Kardashian and other such socialite celebrities are a marketable crowd and are constantly photographed and pictured in magazines to showcase the latest trends. Seemingly getting in trouble for deviant activities and then having to pay the consequences is this season's fashion. In Kardashian's cause she is working her debt to society off by doing charity work for The Brent Shapiro Foundation for Alcohol and Drug Awareness. This defies the most important principle of having a celebrity spokesperson be a good role model for the organization. It is hard to believe that Kardashian believes in the cause she is volunteering for, rather it seems that she is doing some great public relations work to try to clean her reputation. Thus when others view the actions of careless celebrities such as Kardashian, they do not pick up on the deeper meaning of giving and just emulate what they think is approvable and do the dirty work after. This illustrates the damaging impact celebrities can have on charity and shows how they threaten the long term well-being and good natured aspect of giving.