Singer Sheryl Crow and environmentalist Laurie David have been traveling across America on a two-week Stop Global Warming College Tour, which winds up today at George Washington University. Crow and David (co-producer of the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" and wife of "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Larry David) have been touting their cause and chronicling their travels in a rather idiosyncratic blog. Here, on Earth Day, are a few excerpts:You can read all the excerpts yourself, but this is the one that has me going:
Crow (4/19, Springfield, Tenn.): I have spent the better part of this tour trying to come up with easy ways for us all to become a part of the solution to global warming. Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating. One of my favorites is in the area of forest conservation which we heavily rely on for oxygen. I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required.Oh yes, this will save the world.
Philanthrocapitalism'
They invest in social causes as they would the stock market or a start-up, but the return is measured not only in financial viability but also what impact the initiative has in solving global problems. The new hybrid model has been dubbed "philanthrocapitalism" and its practitioners "philanthroprenuers."
The 1/1/1 model
Marc Benioff, founder of Salesforce.com and the Salesforce Foundation, created a model for corporate philanthropy known as the 1/1/1 model. His company donates 1 percent of its employees' time, 1 percent of its equity, and 1 percent of its product to philanthropic endeavors. Google has copied Benioff's 1 percent commitment formula.
Profit from benefit Yet others see a new era dawning. "Google exemplifies this emerging blur between for-profit and non-profit," said Peter Hero, an adviser to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. "It gives them an ability to invest in a for-profit entity that doubles or triples the bottom line, provides a financial return but also a significant social and environmental return." The guiding theme of the Global Philanthropy Forum meeting this week is to explore market-based solutions and encourage entrepreneurship. Instead of funding a medical clinic, that might mean investing in a biotech company for a new vaccine.
