Trend-defining performer and stage artist Lady Gaga will be given the Trevor Project’s Hero Award later this December, acknowleding her work and efforts with the LGBT community, The Trevor Project organization said in a statement.
The Trevor Project grants The Hero Award to Lady Gaga
According to Trevor, Lady Gaga is an inspiration to youth, and she increases visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community. The singer just recently announced she founded the Born This Way Foundation to bravely empower young people to be proud of who they are, and accept temselves as well as one another, including one anothers humanity as well as gender preferences.
The Trevor Project is America’s leading nationwide organization to provide help (crisis intervention and suicide prevention services) to the LGBTQ community. Along with Lady Gaga, the Trevor Project’s Hero Award will also be granted to Google Inc. The search giant is known to champion LGBTQ workplace equality by advocating for equal policies and benefits for their LGBTQ employees, expanding the presence of their LGBTQ employee resource group globally and supporting the community and LGBTQ youth organizations.
In the current economic climate, more and more people start looking into ways to ensure that despite all the difficulties, donations and funds keep flowing in for charities and nonprofit organizations. One of these people is British-born businessman Julian Worth, who might have just found a way to revolutionize the usual process of charity donations. His brainchild, the recently launched Xperedon (a Swiss-designed platform applications that was built from a $5m investment and some three years of development) combines the act of giving with the functionalities and the benefits of social media, a concept that hallmarks practically all successful new media ventures of the recent years.
In the core of the Xperedon platform are an ever-growing database of charities (5,629 charity organizations are listed at the time of writing this article) and the innovative idea called „charity profile” or „charity portfolio”, a handpicked selection of registered users, that consists of up to 20 charities of their choice, that they intend to support. Users manage these portfolios freely, adding and removing charities, sharing their profiles to show off, or opting for private donations, that are not visible to others. They can select regular donations, with monthly plans starting as low as $10, or they can obviously choose occasional donations with any amount. „Think of it as your personal charity DNA,” says Julian Worth, who hopes that it’s just a matter of time, when these charity profiles will become as popular and important to their users, as their Facebook accounts or Twitter feeds. „Xperedon is all about lifestyle giving, making it relevant and fun, while putting control firmly in the hands of the donor,” he adds.
Are you a member of a nonprofit organization, who thinks that this year’s Christmas gift is a great way to tackle the restrictions of your limited funds, and still give your partners the gratitude they deserve? Are you a donor who just received a gift from the charity of your choice, that made you feel particularly great about your contribution to the nonprofit this year?
Either way, please don’t hesitate to share the details with us, and nominate the organization in the quest for the Best Nonprofit Christmas gift of 2011 run by the Fundraisr.Org charity and nonprofit blog. All nonprofit organizations are eligible to be nominated to the Best Nonprofit Christmas Gift competition!
British actress, model and fashion designer Sienna Miller (30) announced she would auction off items from her personal wardrobe to help charity causes. The stunning fashion icon known for her unique, chic style decided to give her fans a chance to buy and wear the clothes she wore on various occasions from London high streets to Hollywood red carpets.
Sienna Miller to help International Medical Corps by auctioning off her personal wardrobe for charity
The items now on sale include a variety of dresses, jackets, jeans, boots, handbags, heels and hats. Most of the auctions are closing today (Nov 17) on the market leading auction website eBay – all the incomes of these auctions is offered for the benefit of the charity organization International Medical Corps, a global organization offering medical help and health care training in more than 65 countries worldwide, responding to virtually every emergency in the last two decades, helping tens of millions of people with their efforts. Although there was no minimal bid set at the auctions, a decision that is intended to reflect on the sore economic situation of the moment, most items were to be found in the few-hundreds range a couple of hours before the end of the bidding. Continue reading →
„All of us can make a difference throught the life we lead. We’re all here to help each other, we’re all here to use our lives to one another’s service” a moved, tearful Oprah Winfrey proclaimed in her acceptance speech last Saturday, when the talk show host was granted an honorary Oscar for her charitable work by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The award, officially titled the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award or the Governors Awards are given out ahead of the „real Oscars”, to people who have made the deepest impact on the industry. This year’s awardees were Oprah Winfrey, actor James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith.
Oprah Winfrey, who is regularly deemed to be one of the most powerful and wealthiest women by the Time and Fortune Magazine, and who is well known for her charity efforts and philanthropy works, described the moment as „unimaginable” for someone, who grew up in Mississippi, and had such modest roots as herself. To make the moment even more emotional, the honorary Oscar award was given to her by a young woman who was helped through high school by a financial grant she earned from Oprah’s foundation. Continue reading →
Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton (31) left the crowd of the Big Sister Association’s charity event speechless with her eloquence, when talking about her late grandmother, Dorothy Rodham, and praising the evening’s honoree, Democratic donor and well-known philanthropist Elain Schuster, The Boston Globe reported.
Chelsea Clinton at the charity event of the Big Sister Association
„[My grandmother] built the home for her children that she had never had but that she had seen and could believe in. My mother is a product of my grandmother’s indominable spirit. (…) She knew deep in her core that she had finally transformed all of the challenges that she had confronted in life into values embedded in my mother, in my uncles, and in their children. And for my grandmother, until truly the last day, what was most fundamental to her was always paying it forward.” Chelsea was quoted as saying, when talking about her late grandmother. Dorothy Rodham died earlier this month, on Nov. 1, 2011.
With such an overdose of news and media over the internet it’s high time to find appropriate filters to pick the information you really need. Going back to the source and following the organizations you are interested in is becoming easier and easier as almost every major organization is now using social media. But then again, the abundancy has its drawbacks: it’s not easy to find and pick the news sources that are really worth paying attention to. In our year-end post, Fundraisr.org has compiled a definitive list of 11 charity organizations that are worth keeping an eye on in 2011. From children’s charities to environmental foundations, from major NGOs to intergovernemtal organizations these are the feeds that will surely feed your charity-hunger next year. Oh, and if you liked the list, please make sure you follow Fundraisr.org’s Twitter feed as well!
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal may have kept their fans waiting all year for a Federer vs. Nadal Grand Slam final, but the audience of the Tennis Charity Gala at Cibeles Palace, in Madrid, Spain was lucky enough to see the two world-class tennis players compete for good. So were the audiences of various other European tennis courts as Federer and Nadal went on tour for charity.
“We wanted to take advantage of our head-to-head rivalry over recent years … and help people who need it,” Rafael Nadal was quoted as saying a few days ago, when the pair announced they would be playing back to back games for charity before the year comes to an end. Continue reading →
Former president Bill Clinton (64) was named Person Of The Year by worldwide animal rights charity PETA, the organization announced earlier this week. Clinton, who is renowned for his humanitarian efforts, and charitable projects “uses his influence to promote the benefits of following a vegan diet,” PETA stated, explaining the decision. Continue reading →
Television personalities, music stars and other celebrities – all members of the American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet – decided to support the American Red Cross to give and to encourage their fans to donate in the frameworks of the organization’s Holiday Giving Campaing.
Participating celebrities include actors Josh Duhamel, Marlee Matlin, Jane Seymour, Jackie Chan and Jimmy Smits; television personalities Dr. Phil McGraw, Nancy O’Dell and Leeza Gibbons; and award-winning music stars Chayanne, Reba, Rascal Flatts, Wynonna Judd, Sara Evans and Pat Green, American Red Cross said in a statement earlier this week.
Part of the holiday charity campaign is an online catalog whithin the American Red Cross’s webstore, called “Gifts that Save the Day“, enabling people to make donations that could provide food and shelter for victims of disasters. The donation can be a military comfort kit with a robe, a phone or a music card, or simply basic necessities that would help families that lost everything in a catastrophe. Donations made through the “Gifts that Save the Day” program, that are Red Cross program area-specific, rather than attached to a specific program of the organization, are entirely tax-deductible – Red Cross notes. Other ways of donating in this holiday season includes the making of a $25 donation by texting the word “GIFT” to 90999.
“This holiday season, I’m giving the gift of hope by supporting my local American Red Cross,” Reba said in a video message about the campaign. “Instead of sweaters and ties, I’m giving gifts from the Red Cross Holiday Giving Catalog.” Reba also has sent an e-mail to Red Cross supporters nationwide encouraging them to donate this holiday season.
“Perhaps it’s because my father was a doctor, or because I played one on television, but I think my favorite gift in the catalog is the gift of vaccination against measles,” Jane Seymour, the primary celebrity spokesperson for the campaign said. “It’s a great honor to be asked to take part in this worthwhile endeavor for the American Red Cross. I can tell you from personal experience that the time I spend volunteering has enriched my life,” she added.
Celebrities, such as Wynonna Judd, Chayanne, Rascal Flatts, Reba, Matlin, O’Dell, Evans, Green, Gibbons and Chan also used their Twitter and Facebook pages to encourage their fans and followers to participate in the campaign. “$25 vaccinates 25 children around the world against measles. Wanna help? http://bit.ly/RCHoliday“, Judd tweeted.
According to the American Red Cross, a recent survey shows that despite economic difficulties and the current downturn, 57% of Americans are planning to give at least $50 to charitable causes throughout this year’s holiday season.
