Put Your Money Where There Are Mouths To Feed

Tim Shey has the right idea about Apple’s bright red charityPod:

“[…] we’ve figured out a way to make 100% of the cost of your red nano go directly to relief in Africa. You simply have to skip buying the nano and donate the money directly to a grassroots organization working on the problem.”

I find charity promotions like the red iPod, not to mention charity events/walks/dinners/auctions, to be inescapably creepy and inefficient. I understand that their objective is to generate money for charity where there would have been none. However, encouraging people to donate when they get a fancy trinket or an elegant evening in return dilutes a culture of no-strings-attached giving. It makes charity out to be a market transaction, when in fact it’s an act that inherently defies market values.