So, who comes to RAM? The uninsured, yes, but the underinsured are in line as well. Like Marty Tankersley. He drove 200 miles to have a tooth pulled because he'd been in pain for weeks and couldn't afford to see the dentist. Marty has also had two heart attacks and no follow-up care, because it's just too expensive.

The Tankersleys live in Dalton, Ga., and fall into the underinsured category. Marty's a truck driver and has major medical insurance through his employer. But the deductible is $500, really unaffordable. And the dental insurance costs too much.

No one really knows how many Americans are underinsured like the Tankersleys.

"He's the lucky one he could drive the 200 miles. He's the lucky one who got to see people today and get hooked in. There are tens of hundreds of thousands of people like him," Isaacs [a volunteer and an internal medicine specialist at the University of Virginia] said.

U.S. Health Care Gets Boost From Charity [60 Minutes]

Elliott says the act of charity "may have lost a little revenue in the short term, but I think it’s earned a customer for life." A LITTLE revenue? What about all the additional revenue they've just lost in checked baggage fees, drink and snack purchases, self-service seatbelt fastening surcharges, pressurized cabin fees, and that collection plate that's passed around after the flight attendant demonstrates how to put on the oxygen mask?

"Troubled airline refunds nonrefundable ticket to unemployed passenger" [Elliott.org]
(Photo: zonaphoto)

Castleman responded by angrily withdrawing the scholarships, leaving the four students without the means to attend college.

The president and CEO of Castle Automotive Group, Howard Castleman, said it didn't have to be this way. "We opted not to give it to them because of, quite frankly, attitude," he said in a phone interview. He said school officials accused him of wanting to bring in a "media circus" and would not allow him to hang his company's banner.

Castleman said that having press at the event would have paid public tribute to the teacher who died, it would have encouraged more people to donate to the school, and "we would've gotten some PR."

[...]

"My family was very excited when they heard I would receive the money from Toyota in order to go to college," said one of them, Iftin Iftin, a Somali refugee who graduated from Patterson on Saturday and plans to study English and computer programming.

When D'Anna summoned the students to tell them Castle wasn't donating the money after all, Iftin said, "I couldn't even smile all day." At night, he said, "I couldn't get sleep."

Castleman also decided to cancel his annual Christmas party for poor Baltimore children, saying "This is it. I'll never have another Christmas party for these kids. It doesn't pay."

Um, the missed lesson here, Castleman, is that charity should be its own reward, not a hackneyed public relations scheme.

Firm reneges on scholarships [The Baltimore Sun] (Thanks to Stanton!)

Ian writes:

About a year and a half ago, I got a phone call on my cell phone from an unlisted number. I was busy doing something, but like an idiot I answered anyway. It was a solicitor from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, asking me to donate. I'd taken my fiancee to a concert of theirs about a month prior, and I had purchased the tickets online. I guess they thought just paying for my tickets wasn't enough. I told him I was busy and to send me something in the mail, and that was that.

A few weeks later I got what looked like a bill from the BSO, saying I had agreed to donate $25, and please pay up. I was pretty annoyed about getting a collection notice for a donation I never actually agreed to, so I tore up the letter and forgot about it. Over the next year, I received a copy of that same notice once every couple of months. Each time, I remembered the sleaziness of the circumstances under which they got my "pledge", so I just threw it out.

A couple of weeks ago, an unrecognized number appeared on my phone. Since this one wasn't blocked, I answered. On the other end was an unbelievably rude woman who immediately accused me of making a fraudulent pledge to the BSO because they never received my $25. Then she goes, "So would you please give me a credit card number so we can take care of this?" I was at a loss for words. I explained to her that giving my credit card information to a random person who called my cell phone would be incredibly stupid. She said, "Oh, I assure you I'm calling from the BSO," and went on to describe the tickets for my outing a year and a half ago—the date, the seats, the cost, etc. At this point I just wanted to get off the phone, so I told her she wasn't getting my credit card, and to please send me something in the mail. "Impossible," she said. "When is a good time to call back?" I said the first thing that came to my mind, which was "May", and she hung up abruptly.

About a week later, I got another letter in the mail asking me to pay up, and last night that familiar number appeared in my caller ID. This time though, I didn't answer it. I wonder if the BSO realizes it's telemarketers are acting like financial bounty hunters?

Anyway, I'd advise Consumerist readers to think twice before making a BSO ticket purchase online...

We have a mini-subscription to the New York Philharmonic and used to constantly receive solicitation calls from the "Friends of the New York Philharmonic." They had our Grandcentral number, and each time they called, we'd ask to be taken us off their lists before blocking the number. Those sneaky audiophiles, they'd call back from a different number and pretend we'd never requested anything other than another call. We must have received well over ten calls before they finally realized they were talking to a stingy blogger.

The experience was annoying enough to keep us from ever being friends with the New York Philharmonic, even if they give us their Cool Ranch Doritos and invite us over to play Grand Theft Auto. No, they blew that chance. Take note, symphony orchestras, your pushy tactics won't win you any friends.

The broader lesson is to be very careful when donating to any organization. Donating is the fastest way to put your name, number, and address on a slew of annoying solicitation lists. If you choose to give, give anonymously.

(Photo: Getty)

From Yahoo!:

"I did like a practice run ... two days in a row to make sure I could do it," he said. "I'm not in the greatest shape. The mornings are the worst. It feels like it takes forever. I get like a mile down the road and I want to die."

It's a big change for someone who put 300 miles on his truck the week before he stopped driving it.

LaFave fills out a chart each day listing how many miles he bikes, the destination and the gas price that day, among other things. He plans to compute his savings and donate that amount to a charity that provides food to children in Africa.

"I think just with the gas prices being so high, everybody complains about it but no one ever really does anything about it," LaFave said. "People continue to drive nonstop and not think about it, but I just wanted to take a stand and say, `I'm not gonna pay this much money for gas.'"

We think what Brian is doing is sweet (the charity part), but we won't really be impressed unless he extends his project into the delightful Wisconsin winter...

Wis. man won't buy gas for 31 days, maybe longer [Yahoo!] (Thanks, Angela!)
(Photo: Nabity Photos )

Johnson ordered 750 bicycles to be given to underprivileged kids at an event sponsored by the Andre Johnson Foundation — in return for the purchase, Wal-Mart agreed to donate water and ice for the May 3 event.

But there was a problem with the order, so Johnson ended up buying fewer bikes than planned. Wal-Mart countered by not giving the water and ice as promised. That's cold.

Wal-Mart is trying to rectify the situation. They tell TMZ, "We are reaching out to the Andre Johnson Foundation as we speak to rectify the situation. It's disappointing that this happened."

Wow, Walmart. Why don't you just laugh and twirl your mustache while you're refusing to give free water to needy children.

Classy!

NFL Star: Wal-Mart Left Kids Out in the Cold [TMZ]

In a stunning development underscoring the plight of non-profit hospitals struggling with the increase in uninsured patients, the Catholic ownership of St. Francis Hospital & Health Center on Wednesday said it will shutter the hospital because nobody would buy it.

The religious order of nuns that oversees St. Louis-based SSM Health Care said it could not even give the hospital away to other health facilities "for free."

Saddled with tens of millions of dollars in losses from uninsured patients who could not pay their medical bills, St. Francis would be abandoning its core mission of caring "for the people of its communities regardless of their ability to pay." SSM will seek a closing application with the state, a process that could take several months.

The closing would erase a deeply established health-care facility in a struggling south suburban town, forcing residents to travel further from home and potentially stressing other facilities with an influx of thousands of patients, many with limited means.

"Unfortunately, in spite of St. Francis' outstanding clinical reputation, reimbursement from commercial insurers could not cover the cost of providing care to the growing number of Medicaid and uninsured patients," said Sister Mary Jean Ryan, SSM's chief executive officer.

Maybe a network needs a realistic set for a TV doctor show?

SSM to Close St. Francis Hospital & Health Center (Press Release) [St. Francis]
The hospital they just couldn't save [Chicago Tribune via WSJ Health Blog]

I bought two books on Amazon - and my total came to $24.74. So I scouted around and found a site (www.filleritem.com) that lets you choose a small priced item to bump the price over the $25 to qualify for free shipping. I chose a small wooden knob for $0.72.

So today I got email - they did a partial shipment! Guess what's coming in the first box? Yep, the knob I didn't really want - the one that's only there to get me over $25.

Why doesn't Amazon make a new item "Give money to charity" for any amount - that qualifies for free shipping - and not cost them an extra $2.28 (plus their labor and materials)? They would get good press, save money, and save me from receiving and discarding an item I had no use for - full of win all around.

[The 'which charity' question could either be a big list (complicated) or just a simple top-ten list - most everyone could find a charity they don't object to with the Salvation Army and the Red Cross and United Way and some military hospital charities in the list.]

============================================

The following items have been shipped to you by Amazon.com: —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-
Qty Item Price Shipped Subtotal
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-
Amazon.com items (Sold by Amazon.com, LLC): 1 Laurey Au Natural Wood Mus... $0.72 1 $0.72

Shipped via USPS (estimated arrival date: 19-March-2008).
Tracking number: 9102xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—- Item Subtotal: $0.72
Shipping & Handling: $2.28

Best Value Savings $0.00 Super Saver Discount $-2.28

Total: $0.72

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—

You have only been charged for the items sent in this shipment. (Per our policy, you only pay for items when we ship them to you.) The following items will ship separately, as soon as they're available: —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-
Qty Item Price Not Yet Shipped
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-
1 (book 1 ) $7.99 1 1
(book 2 ) $17.16 1

This shipment was sent to: (redacted)

(Photo:Robert Scoble)

After all, the Girl Scouts of America is a charitable organization.

Tax Cat Sez: They are... but only if you don't take the cookies.

From the Girl Scouts website:

Q: Is the purchase of Girl Scout Cookies tax-deductible?

A: No and Yes.

* No, if the customer keeps the cookies. Individuals who buy Girl Scout Cookies and take the cookies home, or consume them, have purchased a product at a fair market value. For this reason, no part of the price of a box of Girl Scout Cookies used in this way is tax-deductible.

* Yes, if the customer leaves the cookies with Girl Scouts. Many Girl Scouts ask customers to pay for one or more boxes of cookies for use in their community service project, for example, collecting for a food pantry. The customers not receiving any Girl Scout Cookies do not benefit directly from paying for them. Those individuals may treat the purchase price of the donated cookies as a charitable contribution.

Frequently Asked Questions [Girl Scouts via Don't Mess With Taxes]
(Photo:chadwbecks)

On January 17th, my colleague Matthew Newton poked his head into my office. He'd also donated, and was also impatiently waiting for his XO. He told me that he'd just spent an hour on the phone with OLPC customer service, and had been told that they didn't have his shipping address, as a result of some glitch relating to the fact he'd paid via PayPal.

I too had paid with PayPal...but I didn't have an hour to spare. So I checked the "Track Your Order" link and entered my e-mail address and tracking number. That sent me to a page saying I'd probably received my XO, with...confusingly...a link to a page that it said would let me track my order. I clicked on that link, and got a page not found error.

Today, I happened to be in the office early, so I called OLPC support and turned on my speakerphone. Thirty-five minutes later, the call rang through to a rep. Who told me that they didn't have a mailing address for me. (Like Matthew, I paid via PayPal.)

I gave him the address and asked when I might expect the laptop. He told me that OLPC doesn't tell them when machines are going out...but that I might have good news in February. I'll believe it when I see it.

Where the Heck is my OLPC XO Laptop? [PC World]
(Photo: fumi)

"KFC is not affiliated with the NFL in any fashion, so this is a textbook case of ambush marketing 101," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. "There are many different companies that try to draft off the excitement of the Super Bowl that have no right to any of the activities going on."

"We're not going to play the role of Simon Cowell and critique dances," McCarthy said. "But if a player acted in a way that was a reflection of a corporate message, then we'd have to take a look at it."

KFC says they have a charitable plan for the money even if no player or half-time performer does the dance.

NFL: Players should duck chicken promo [Boston Herald]
(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

Eligibility is determined with two questions: First, do you live in one of these 16 states?

Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC, Delaware, Maryland, Alaska, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana.

It's almost sweet of our communist friends to shove the inequalities and harsh realities of capitalism in our faces with a program that actually helps people pay for an increasingly unwieldy cost of living expense.

For more information, call Citizens Energy at: (877) 563-4645, or fill out their online application.

Individual Households [Citizens Energy]
(Photo: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

Happy New Year!

Enjoy the cute kitty cat picture.

CharityNavigator
IRS Guide To Charitable Giving 2007 (PDF) [IRS]

(Photo:RcktManIL)

"These two brothers say they do this every year. They say they've been blessed and just want to give something back," Detective Sergeant Anthony Repalone said. "They gave it to people who they thought needed it. The people were very appreciative." Police declined to identify the brothers, respecting their wish to remain anonymous.

"It's caused me a lot of lost sleep," says Karen Boyd, who buys toys for the Johnson County Christmas Bureau in the Kansas City metro area. Volunteers helped check whether 3,000 toys she bought on sale last spring and other donated items are on recall lists.

So far, a few dozen toys recalled because of lead content have been found. "We're checking everything," Boyd says. "If it's a child's only toy, I would hate for it to be unsafe."

Delkor Systems, which makes packaging machines in Circle Pines, Minn., is accepting toys made only in the USA and Canada in its Toys for Tots drive.

Owner Dale Andersen made the change when he met a man whose son was hospitalized after swallowing Aqua Dots, a craft set. A chemical on the toy beads turns toxic when ingested.

Recalls keep toy-drive elves busy [USAToday]
(Photo:g-hat)

You can search for a food bank in your area and check to see how it spends its money with Charity Navigator. If you don't have any food to give, send cash!

Five Thanksgiving Tips to Help Out Your Local Food Bank [Agonist]
Food Banks [Charity Navigator]
(Photo:iwantamonkey)

The Times also profiled an interesting charity that rescues unused food from being discarded by restaurants and stores, even farms.

Until Jennifer McLean and two drivers from City Harvest showed up at Joe Sidoti's farm last Friday, the radishes still growing in his field were goners.

The radishes would probably have been plowed under, and they certainly would not have wound up in salads in the South Bronx. But as soon as Ms. McLean saw them, big as apples and red as Christmas ornaments, she started working Mr. Sidoti over.

What would it take, she wanted to know, to get those radishes into City Harvest trucks and on their way to food pantries and soup kitchens in some of New York City's poorest neighborhoods? She offered to provide transportation, she offered to round up volunteers to do the picking, and, most persuasively, she offered cash.

Off City Turf, Haggling for Food [NYT via Gothamist]
(Photo:Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times)

Thankfully, it was a compliment, so we thought we'd post it.

I thought you might want to know about my experience with OLPC. I couldn't get the link on the site to work so I tried the toll free number on the bottom of the page. After two rings I was greeted by a real live human being (I did a double take when I heard her say her name, I was waiting for the phone tree options.) Even better, she processed my order and answered my questions without transferring me anywhere or putting me on hold. When I first heard about the "buy one, give one" deal I thought it was fantastic, now I'm even more pleased.

Thanks,
Sean

• 1. You plan on keeping or starting a T-Mobile HotSpot plan for 2008
• 2. You were going to donate at least $199 to a charity anyway.

That's really it—if you meet those two conditions, then the laptop is gravy, because the real deal is with T-Mobile. You can give your XO laptop away, gift it to a kid in your family, try to get Doom to play on it, whatever. It doesn't matter.

Here's how we figure it: that $400 fee is really a combination of two expenses: a tax-deductible donation of $199 and a purchase price of $201. If you were already planning on donating $199 to a charity before the end of 2007, then by donating it to OLPC, you get to spend that extra $201 for your own XO laptop plus the T-Mobile HotSpot account. On its own, a year of pre-paid T-Mobile HotSpot (the cheapest option) is $359.88. For your additional $201, you're getting that plus a weird little Kermit-and-marshmallow laptop/tablet!

This is sort of a "splitting hairs" way of looking at it, but it's applicable to those people who are looking to donate $199 to charity anyway. For the rest of us, this deal effectively costs $400 because the donation is forced, and you wouldn't have otherwise spent it. It's still a great deal (like buying a year of T-Mobile and getting an XO laptop for about $60 including shipping), but not as attractive as it is to those who, for whatever reason, were going to be donating the $199 anyway.

"Give One Get One" [One Laptop Per Child]
(Image: OLPC)

The CTO for the foundation says, "We had some last-minute bugs. We've resolved them." Production was supposed to have begun this month, but now is slated to begin November 12th, the same day the 2-week "Buy 1 Give 1" sale starts. Because of this, they will have trouble meeting consumer demand in North America while working to fill current orders from Peru and Uruguay before summer vacation begins in December.

We don't begrudge the foundation keeping its focus on the real goal of the project—you should just know that if you participate in the program, the odds are good you won't see your laptop in time to give it as a Christmas gift or anything.

"Laptop foundation production delay means shortage" [Reuters]

RELATED
www.laptopgiving.org

The site was started by the Goodwill in Orange County, California, and now has 71 member stores that participate.

Shopgoodwill.com

RELATED
"Goodwill launches online shopping" [Dallas Morning News]

The One Laptop Per Child program has had its share of critics and setbacks over the past several years. For one thing, the "$100 laptop" is now the "$188 laptop" due to parts costs. Now a bigger problem is that that countries are dragging their collective feet on handshake agreements to purchase the laptops. Nicholas Negroponte, the guy behind OLPC, tells Newsweek,

"I had a handshake agreement with the leaders of three countries—Thailand, Nigeria and Brazil—all agreeing to buy a million laptops. That got it going. But between a handshake and a closed deal is a world of difference. Everybody has a pit in their stomach when it comes to going first."

"Give One, Get One" [Newsweek]

RELATED
xogiving.org
overview of the laptop's technology
footage of the laptop in action [CBS News - warning: Lesley Stahl]

No one will notice! Reader Darius alerts us to what he calls left of mondonation's logo.

mondonation is a fund-raising site that takes money from customized t-shirt orders and sends it various charities. We have no idea if they're worth a damn as a charity, but their graphic designers sure seem talented.

Darius writes:

I personally own a few shirts and have referred my friends and family to buy them too... but I don't think I want to become a walking billboard for Britney Spears new product... and if something isn't done about her fragrance logo... that is exactly what my shirts will become.

Britney Spears' New Product Stealing from mondonation and Charities [YoungGoGetter]
Briney Spears' Believe
mondonation

Large urban churches have been accepting credit cards for several years, tapping into the Generation P (for Plastic) aversion to carrying cash. Pastors like to tell jokes about parishioners collecting Frequent Flier points on the way to heaven. A recent Dallas Morning News poll found that 55% of 200 local churches accept credit and/or debit cards.

Automatic checking account withdrawals are used by some churches, and more recently, ATM-like kiosks are now available in many church corridors and lobbies, where parishioners can swipe a card and receive a printed receipt, which they can either save for the IRS or plunk into the collection basket with a flourish, so pew mates will know they're not spiritual freeloaders.

The ATM in the Church Lobby [Time]
(Photo: spcoon)

It seems that this offer was attractive to Procter and Gamble, because they've entered one of their charitable programs (which relies on their water purifying technology to provide safe drinking water to children) into the contest. And it looks like they may win.

Amex claims that the entry is legit because although the idea was entered by a Proctor and Gamble employee (who, by the way, is the director of the program), the "fulfilling organization" will be UNICEF. Ostensibly, UNICEF could then choose not to purchase the water purification technology from P&G, however unlikely that would be. From the Member's Project Website:

This project idea was submitted by a Cardmember who is employed at Proctor & Gamble, but the project idea Cardmembers are voting on is not the P&G's clean water program with PSI (Population Services International). American Express has selected UNICEF as the organization that will fulfill and bring the project idea to life. If this project wins, UNICEF will receive the final award money and make the decision about what technologies and purifiers they will use to clean water.

Any Cardmember was able to submit a project idea regardless of his or her affiliation with a for profit corporation or a non profit organization. Many project ideas were submitted by individuals with such affiliations. Decisions about which fulfilling organizations will bring the project ideas to life were made by American Express, not by the Cardmembers who proposed the project ideas.

Procter & Gamble is in the midst of making the world's clean-water crisis its primary philanthropic mission, using its Pur-brand household water-purification system. It reported last week that a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that a system such as Pur is effective in cutting death rates from water-borne illnesses.

P&G, too, is keeping an eye on its bottom line while doing good. "It's a cause-related issue, but we'll also learn things about low-income consumers that are going to help P&G overall," says Greg Allgood, P&G's director for children's safe drinking water.

And what is the motive of the Child Safe Drinking water project? According to the New York Times, P&G will sell its various water purification products in the US, and use the profits to distribute more of its product overseas. This information won't be noted on the product's packages. Why? From the NYT:

The packages could note that profits will go to Population Services International, the nonprofit group that actually handles the distribution of Pur overseas, but that is not a well-known name. "We don't think it would be understandable to consumers," Mr. Allgood said.

Procter is also traveling incognito in the American Express Member's Project, a Web-based initiative that encourages people to submit ideas for solving a societal problem. American Express cardholders vote for their favorites, and American Express will award up to $5 million for the winning idea.

Mr. Allgood entered the science and theory behind the Children's Safe Drinking Water program. But he said that the Member Project's rules precluded him from naming it, or mentioning Pur or Procter.

Procter & Gamble's project has a fairly significant lead in the voting, which closes on August 7th.

Is Procter & Gamble (or the P&G employee) doing something wrong by entering its products in the contest? Here's the Child Safe Drinking Water blog, which clearly shows P&G's logo, but is presented as if the project is somewhat less significantly funded than one might imagine. After all, P&G calls "Children's Safe Drinking Water" their "global signature program," and according to the Times funds the project through sales of their products to US consumers. For comparison's sake, here's what "Children's Safe Drinking Water's" actual official site looks like.

So it's probably not hurting for cash. Then again, we find it hard to take what amounts to a gigantic PR clusterf*ck for Amex too seriously. If people are voting for children to get drinking water, and the children will get the drinking water...

What do the Consumerists think? Should P&G's project be disqualified in favor of projects from non-profit organizations?

Children's Safe Drinking Water Official Site
Amex Member's Project
A Reverse Profit Strategy Faces a Commercial Test [NYT]
Starbucks takes up cause for safe drinking water [USA Today]
Children's Safe Drinking Water Blog

Member's Project Thread Full of Angry Amex Members

Many non-profit organizations have frequent flier mileage donation packages, and several major air carriers have developed charitable programs using earned miles. Some are exclusive partnerships geared to one or two specific charities, while others have multiple organizations with quarterly or monthly rotations, allowing all the participating charities equal time to receive miles.

Donating Frequent Flier Miles and Making Them Count [Peter Greenberg]
(Photo: Daquella manera)

Update: Miles are deductable only in very limited circumstances.

From MileDonor.com:

The donation of miles is generally not tax-deductible. In essence, they are not "property" in the eyes of the IRS, and thus have no monetary value.

The reason for this is simple, you generally have earned miles as a non-taxable rebate from other purchases and have not paid exclusively for the miles in which to establish a donation.

There may be one exception. You may be able to purchase miles directly from the programs then donate them to charity — thus qualifying for the tax deduction. But that is a BIG 'maybe.' We highly recommend consulting with a qualified tax attorney or other financial professional before making any decisions regarding the deduction of donated miles, points or awards.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the study, which scanned the brains of volunteers as they donated money to a food bank, showed that the pleasure centers of the brain were activated by the act of giving. Even more interesting, not all people responded in the same way. The study showed that people whose brain reacted more to being given money were less willing to make donations.

"The brain is directly telling us, 'I like the food bank more than I like me,' or the other way around and can tell you who's going to give," said Colin Camerer, economics professor at the California Institute of Technology. "That's pretty cool."

Donating to charity is good for the brain, according to study [Chicago Tribune via Freakonomics]
(Photo:#Justin)

Lay and Skilling, who also served as CEO, were convicted in May 2006 for their role in the accounting fraud that led to the collapse of Enron in 2001. The bankruptcy erased billions in investors' money and wiped out the pensions of thousands of Enron employees.

The custom-made desks with "an elegant Makore Pommelle veneer" have a minimum bid of $25,000 each, which so far has not been met. The auction began Friday and runs for 10 days.

Enron Founder & CEO Ken Lay's Custom Office Desk [eBay]
Ken Lay's desk goes up for grabs [CNNMoney]

The disproportionate ratio between the marketing outlay and the money raised is drawing concern among nonprofit watchdogs, cause-marketing experts and even executives in the ad business. It threatens to spur a backlash, not just against the Red campaign — which ambitiously set out to change the cause-marketing model by allowing partners to profit from charity — but also for the brands involved.

Because (RED) is explicitly NOT a charity, we encourage our partners to go about their business including their marketing. This sells the products; the products generate the $25 million. In addition, this marketing would have been spent anyway, on other product lines. It never would have been (nor will it ever be) given to the Global Fund.

As a novel experiment in co-branding, (RED) has been a success. Dollars that would have been spent on Great Moments In Commercial History are instead advertising products whose sale helps fight AIDS in Africa. That said, buying a (RED) product, does not make you Mother Teresa reincarnate.

There are several options if you truly want to help fight AIDS in Africa.
•Donate to a real charity. Sites like Charity Navigator help find organizations with low administrative overhead that work on issues you care about.
•Volunteer your time. Almost every organization will accept help when it's offered.

Tell us in the comments how you help make a difference. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Costly Red Campaign Reaps Meager $18 Million [AdAge]
(RED)'s Letter to AdAge
Charity Navigator

PREVIOUSLY: Paypal Freezes Deadspin Fund For Slain Soldier

The question is, how do you know if the charitable institution you're giving to is worthwhile? Are they putting your money to good use? Also, what should you donate? Cash? Items you no longer need or use? How much can you donate? What documentation do you need for the IRS? Answers inside.

What Should I Donate?

Donating cash is convenient, but donating items you don't use can be just as easy and there's the added benefit of getting all that crap out of your basement. If you have items that are in good condition, save them from the landfill and help someone at the same time by donating them to charity. You can deduct the fair market value of all the items you donate.

Who Should I Donate It To?

The American Institute of Philanthropy is a watchdog group that rates charities based on their efficiency. Their goal is is to maximize the effectiveness of every dollar contributed to charity by providing donors with the information they need to make more informed giving decisions. Here are some examples of charitable institutions that received an A+, the highest rating:

Multiple Myeloma Research Institute
Christian Foundation For Children And Aging
The Conservation Fund
American Kidney Fund
Deafness Research Foundation
The American Red Cross
Africare
American Refugee Comittee
Catholic Relief Services
International Medical Corps
National Alliance for Research on Schitzophrenia and Depression
Fisher House
Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund
Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America
Scholarship America
Cedars Home for Children

How Much Can I Donate?

Donations are limited to 50% of a person or couple's total earnings for 2006. If you're thinking of donating stocks and bonds, you're limited to 30% of your total earnings. Any donations of stocks and bonds must be of items that have increased during the calander year, and will be rated at their value on the day of the donation.

What Documentation Do I Need?

According to Goodwill Industries website, the IRS has tightened the rules for giving, especially when donating used items. Cash donations now require a receipt from the charity, a canceled check, or credit card statement to prove their donation, and you may not claim a deduction if you cannot provide supporting documentation. "For material donations, donors may claim a deduction only for items that are in "good" condition. For items worth more than $500, a qualified appraisal must accompany the claim."

You might consider taking photographs of the items before you donate them to prove they were in good condition. What does "good" condition mean? "A good rule of thumb to follow when determining the condition of something you want to donate is to consider whether or not you would give it to a relative or a friend," says George W. Kessinger, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries. "If the answer is yes, then it's fit to donate and most likely in "good" condition."

What IRS Resources Are There?

The IRS provides detailed instructions on deducting all types of charitable donations from cars to a pair of jeans that no longer fit your ass.
Publication 526, Charitable Deductions
Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property

What Forms Does The IRS Require?

From irs.gov: "If you claim a deduction on your return of over $500 for all contributed property, you must attach a Form 8283 (PDF), Noncash Charitable Contributions, to your return. If you claim a total deduction of $5,000 or less for all contributed property, you need only complete Section A of Form 8283. If you claim a deduction of more than $5,000 for an item or a group of similar items, you generally need to complete Section B of Form 8283 which requires, in most cases, an appraisal by a qualified appraiser." —MEGHANN MARCO

"Our philosophy is that everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy, organic food while being treated with dignity," explains Brad Birky, who opened SAME with his wife, Libby, in October. Customers who have no money are encouraged to exchange an hour of service — sweep, wash the dishes, weed the organic garden — for a meal."

Gosh, that's swell. No, really. We're not being sarcastic, damn it! We really think it's nice.—MEGHANN MARCO

Where "Check Please" is Your Call [Time]

"Target Corp.'s policy of prohibiting Salvation Army bell ringers on its property will remain in force this Christmas season, but the Minneapolis-based retailer said Tuesday it will donate $1 million to launch an online version of the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program.

Target will launch the site, Target.com/salvationarmy, on Thursday. Visitors may buy a "virtual" angel ornament for any chosen dollar amount to provide new clothing, toys or food to families in need. "

There are also rumors that Target will be hanging well-known attention-whore David Blaine four stories over Times Square, and, should he escape, it will somehow cause money to be given to "100 needy children". —MEGHANN MARCO

Target nixes Salvation Army [Sun-Times]
Target supports Salvation Army, but not bell ringers [MBJ]

Nevertheless, Hollywood Video would like you to believe that broken discs happen all the time, so they're instituting a 25 cent insurance policy on every rental. That's a bit ridiculous in and of itself — how many times do you really need to rent out a disc before you get a return on your $20 investment, oh massive corporation? — but Bob W. wrote us in explaining a more interesting take on the entire thing.

Bob's theory? The insurance program is giving all proceeds to Starlight, a charity that gives kids games to play. And there's the rub: you're financing their tax deduction by paying for a completely unnecessary bit of protection.

Maybe we should all start deducting our Hollywood Video rentals on our tax forms. Bob's email after the jump.

First off, I recently discovered your truly excellent site, but I've yet to really get a feel for the ground you cover, so if what follows is not in your domain, forgive me.

Hollywood video is starting a program August 1st in which you as a renter will be asked to add an extra .25 for each movie you rent as a kind of insurance in case it is damaged beyond repair while in your possession. Signage around the store will alarm you that 'Accidents Do Happen!', in which case, if you don't buy this 25-cent protection you'll be liable for the full purchase price of the disc.

I work at the store level at a Hollywood Video, and I can assure, you, in the several years I've worked for the company, I can think of only two rentals that were returned damaged beyond repair. In both cases that damage was intentional and malicious. In every other case, it's normal wear and tear that can easily be fixed with the disc-repair machine each store is provided with. Many times, damaged discs are not noticed by the employees, and the disc is put back onto the shelf, at which point someone else rents it and soon returns it for an exchange. My point is this 'service' is not needed. Period. It's simply a doomed-to-fail idea meant to squeeze a few extra dollars out of the ever-declining customer base.

That's not what bugs me, though.

To encourage people to get this disc insurance, 100% of the funds generated by this new program between August 1-31st will be donated to Hollywood's children's charity, the Starlight Starbright foundation ( www.starlight.org). After August 31st, an unspecified portion will be donated from the disc insurance proceeds. Starlight is a nice little charity that gives children in the hospitals movies to watch and games to play.

It's also a 501(c)3 organization.

I suspect Hollywood Video, or rather it's new parent company Movie Gallery, will be making a massive tax-deductible donation to their charity and next year will take advantage of the tax benefits of said donation, all paid for by their customers.

This is simply a theory of mine, but in line with the new corporate thuggery that's taken hold of Hollywood lately. I lack the time, knowledge, and job security to really dig into this. I'm not even sure if it's unethical, but it certainly seems to be an abuse of a non-profit charity for a cash-strapped corporation's financial gain. If there's any way for The Consumerist to investigate this, alarm people to this possible tax-scam, anything at all, I'd appreciate it.

I'm currently employed at a Hollywood Video, happily in fact, so I'd like to stay anonymous if this is something you feel like going with. If you need any more information about the program, the charity, or myself, feel free to reply to this email address.

But it's not worth $3.65 mil. In contrast, the Satanically themed 666-6666 on the Qatarian exchange. It was sold by Qatar Telecom to raise funds for charity. Aleister Crowley would be proud.

Phone number sold for $3.65 million [News.com]

Abraham Alexander, the ex-accountant of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, is in court now for embezzling over $237,000 from the charitable foundation. Of course, where the story gets good is where a lot of that money ended up going: Lady Sage, a 40 year old leather-clad dominatrix. According to Lady Sage's website: "I love nothing more than coaxing you to accept more pain and torment for my pleasure. I love holding your very soul in my hands." Hey, who doesn't?

Alexander paid Lady Sage at least $11,000. Lady Sage charges $250 an hour and $1500 for eight hours, meaning that money meant to go to researching heart disease instead was funneled into at least fifty-eight hours of Alexander being chained up by his nipples and paddled while a Germanic pain dom barked out words of degradation.

Obviously, this isn't a very good time for Alexander — in addition to facing years in prison, his wife is divorcing him and his plea of guilty to grand larceny means that when he leaves prison, he will promptly be deported back to India, where we understand the dom/sub scene isn't quite as lively.

At least your hard-earned charitable dollars went to giving someone's heart a workout though, huh?

Heart Disease Charity Exec Embezzled $237K To Pay Dominatrix [Denver Post] (Thanks, Media Orchard!)