Welcome to round 2 of @Pepsi’s #PepsiRefresh grant program. Another round of ideas can be nominated (as of last night) at refresheverything.com for consideration for Pepsi's February allocation of funds.

In addition, the public is invited to submit votes at Pepsi’s Refresh site for ideas nominated during last month’s round 1.

Today’s New York Times piece describes promotional aspects of and agency involvement with Pepsi’s campaign (and makes no mention of round 1 in January).

As I’ve cautioned, on Beth Kanter’s blog and Twitter (http://twitter.com/mollyblock/status/6989248844, http://twitter.com/mollyblock/status/6989140125), among other places, I remain wary of Chase’s and other companies' cause-related campaigns in which grantmakers cede decision-making control to the public (and the public’s networks).

I understand and appreciate the idea of virality – participating and spreading word to our friends; however, something still doesn’t sit well with me regarding the crowdsourced contest concept: Should five-figure (and above) gifts be awarded to organizations that are deemed “winners” via popularity contests, rather than vetted/evaluated/selected by knowledgeable grantmaking staff on their organizational merits and capacity to implement proposed projects?