5 Cause-Related Tumblr Accounts To Watch (via Huffington Post Impact)

“Tumblr is good for more than just entertaining videos and snarky commentary — nonprofits are also spreading the word about their good works.”

So thrilled to be included in Huffington Post’s round-up of cause-related Tumblelogs! We’re in such awesome company, with Trevor Project, Mercy Corps, ONE Campus and the UN  also catching HuffPost’s eye this week! Keep up the do good work!  

The Power of Business for Good: International Corporate Philanthropy Day

Each year on the fourth Monday in February, the giving community observes International Corporate Philanthropy Day (ICPD) to inspire businesses around the world to give back and recognize the power of business for good. 

We encourage everyone to do their part to make philanthropy an everyday party of their corporate environments, and realize that an integral part of a successful business is not only doing well, but doing good. Check out today’s Huffington Post article that talks about how companies can truly be their best by sparking social change starting at the executive level.

Giving is at the heart of our brand, and today we want to thank you, our Charitybuzz community, for helping us give back to nonprofits 365 days a year! Without your generous support, we would not be able to celebrate raising over $60 million for charities since our inception in 2005. 

Keep up the good work! We simply couldn’t do it without you!

Nonprofit Spotlight: Setting the Bar at the Seven Bar Foundation

Here at charitybuzz we are lucky enough to work with over one thousand nonprofits around the world—all supporting different causes and missions. And in an effort to get you connected to the causes we work so closely to support, we’re putting the spotlight on the Seven Bar Foundation! 

Who has the spotlight?

The Seven Bar Foundation is a nonprofit organization that raises funds for microfinance initiatives used to empower women. Using a combination of cause marketing campaigns and top couture events to give visibility to their cause, the Foundation generates funds that are allocated to microfinance institutions, and distributed to women entrepreneurs and small business owners.

 What do they do?

The micro-loans give women a chance to start or maintain their own small businesses. They are then able to set up payment plans to re-pay the loans, so that they can become self-sufficient business owners.

 How can you help?

Currently, Seven Bar is running an online auction with charitybuzz to fuel their initiatives, with items up for auction like a set visit to MTV’s The Real World, lunch with Mayhem Man Dean Winters, a behind-the-scenes tour of Teen Vogue, and VIP tickets to a star-studded Pre-Oscar party. The Foundation also hosts top couture and luxury lingerie shows in New York, Miami, London and Paris. To find out more about how you can get involved, visit http://www.sevenbarfoundation.org/get-involved/ and help Seven Bar raise the bar for women one rung at a time!

For Charity, Bidding for Access to Stars — Even a Hug (via The New York Times)

The New York Times came out with a very interesting piece on charity auctions—touching upon the major presence that celebrities and brands now have in the philanthropic realm, and the growing demand for unique experiences and access to them. Check out the first page of the story, below:

A few months ago, the restaurateur Jimmy John Liautaud had a private tour of the guitar collection of David Howell Evans (stage name the Edge) of U2. Then Mr. Liautaud and his wife, Leslie, sat down with the musician to chat about “kids, family, being on the road,” Mr. Liautaud recalled.

The visit cost Mr. Liautaud, the founder of a 1,300-unit, nationwide sandwich chain called Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, $42,500. He said the money was well spent.

“The cat was straightforward, kind, gracious,” he said. “Treated my wife and I like he’d known us his whole life.”

The $42,500, which went to benefit a school for musicians in New York, was not Mr. Liautaud’s first winning bid in an online charity auction.

Stars and stellar brands have become a major presence in the philanthropic world, and demand for access to them or something extraordinary seems to be growing.

The most popular offerings now are “experiential items that someone cannot go to the store and purchase,” said Tom DiNardo, chief executive and owner of DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers in Seattle, which has been conducting charity auctions since 1993.

A couple of hours with Paul McCartney and other musicians while they prepare for a concert ($130,000, to benefit a community environmental program). A day with former President Bill Clinton ($124,000, to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital). A tennis lesson from Andre Agassi ($100,000, to benefit the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.)

If the item is a car, make it a Mercedes model not yet on the market. If it is a week at a vacation house, “maybe add on a couple of dinners at high-end restaurants, or manicures or facials,” Mr. DiNardo advised.

This sort of giving constitutes only about 1 percent of philanthropic activity in the United States, which totaled $291 billion last year, according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals, a trade group in Arlington, Va.

But the glamour of auction and raffle offerings attracts a lot of attention and brings in new supporters to the causes they benefit.

“The caliber of the event is what really dictates the attendees and also the items,” said Mr. DiNardo, adding that among the hottest tickets were wine events, with auctions of vintage wines and tastings or dinners, sometimes stretching over a weekend.

Added Coppy Holzman, cofounder and chief executive of Charitybuzz, the auction sitethat handled Mr. Liautaud’s bid for the Edge: “People want to have access to a celebrity, that’s the primary reason they shop. Or merchandise and experiences that aren’t readily got.”

Indeed, Mr. Liautaud was blunt about his motivation for bidding to meet the Edge and bids to meet more than a half-dozen other celebrities. “The cause wasn’t the reason so much as was the opportunity to meet some folks I thought were cool,” he said.

Similarly, Nicolas Di Nunzio, a telecom project manager in Montreal, was the winning bidder on a hug from the singer-actress Jennifer Lopez and a visit to the back lot of “Desperate Housewives,” among other prizes. Before jumping into the auctions, he had never heard of any of the organizations his activity would support, he said.

(His $850 bid for the Ms. Lopez moment went to Musicians on Call, which brings music to patients’ bedsides, while the $2,245 bid for “Housewives” benefited the Actors Fund, a 129-year-old nonprofit that provides social services to people in the entertainment industry.)

Because the bidders are often not focusing on philanthropy, there need not be any obvious connection between the charity and the reward.

The most expensive item sold through Charitybuzz from 2009 to 2011 — a 2011 Mercedes SLS, at $225,000 — benefited the Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation in New Jersey. A Lexus LS 600h L brought $120,000 to Gilda’s Club Worldwide, now known as the Cancer Support Community, an organization for cancer patients and their families.

In addition to celebrities, businesses and individuals offer gifts, services and opportunities for auction. Their motivations may vary from dedication to a cause, to a chance to get their company’s name in front of a high-end audience, to an opportunity to unload an item that is not selling well.

As with any charitable donation, the prospect of a tax deduction can be a motivation for both sides, but financial advisers warn that it is complicated.

Generally, a winning bidder can claim a tax deduction only for the amount by which the bid exceeds the item’s fair market value, and the donor can deduct in full the fair market value of anything given away in full. But one-of-a-kind donations can make it hard to establish fair market value; getting the Mercedes before anyone else is presumably worth more than its suggested retail price.

 The calculation is more complex if the donation is a service or partial donation — for instance, a personally cooked meal or a week in a vacation home. Then, the donor may deduct only the costs that are directly incurred, like the ingredients in the meal.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/business/charity-auctions-turn-to-what-cannot-be-bought.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1