Oil Spill Donations Are Small, but Some Companies Step Up -- NYTimes.com

“Now Pepsi is donating $1.3 million through its Pepsi Refresh Project, which uses a Web site, refresheverything.com, to determine grant winners by popular vote. That sum is in addition to $20 million that Pepsi has vowed to give away in 2010 in the cause marketing effort, the term for collaborating with nonprofit organizations to bolster both charities and the reputations of companies.

Related: See "Funding should not be a popularity contest,” with links to this post and others.

Funding should NOT be a popularity contest.

Arts Groups Are All A-Twitter Over [American Express] Grant Money – NYT ArtsBeat blog

*sigh*

Also see: 

  • February post in which I express my concerns, arising from the Chase Community Giving and Pepsi Refresh contests, among others, regarding matters of “popularity” (read: shamelessly seeking votes online for funding) and the dissolution of grantmaker/grantee relationships.
  • Related posts: about Target’s online charitable initiatives and an April NPR story.

[There are times when I truly miss wearing the director of development (fundraising) “hat” on the staff of a non-profit organization. This would not be one of them.]