Hidden Cash Philanthropy Efforts Spread Across the Globe

Philanthropy - the effort or inclination to increase the well-being of humankind, as by charitable and or donations. Like everything in the 21st Century, with the aid of the Internet philanthropy has evolved too. If I were commissioned to do a case study on online philanthropy done right Twitter's Hidden Cash's recent philanthropy effort is clearly a shining example.

Below is an interview before the Hidden Cash founder unveiled himself:

On May 22, 2014, after a late dinner with a friend in San Francisco, I was telling him about my desire to give back to the community which I love and has given me so much, and to do it in a fun way. We rejected a few ideas I had as too, complex, and decided that I would hide money in a few spots in San Francisco, and then tweet about it. We created the Twitter handle @hiddencash, and did just that, hiding envelopes of cash around midnight in San Francisco, and tweeting clues. I contacted a local blog to tell them what we did. They wrote me a few questions, and wrote about it, and it exploded from there.

To date, Jason Buzi, a real estate investor, has come forward to claim he is the philanthropist behind the Hidden Cash online charity venture. His reasoning: to give back to the community that made him wealthy. What was originally meant to be a pay-it-forward scavenger hunt for San Francisco has spread all the way to the United Kingdom and beyond. Now participants not just in California but across the world learn about the Hidden Cash drops via social media and are encouraged to tweet photos of themselves with found cash.

Bravo to Buzi for his global philanthropy efforts! Everybody at population-we™sends him kudos for his Think We Before Me actions. To participate, follow @hiddencash on Twitter to see if an scavenger hunt pops up in your community.

Source: Twitter: @hiddencash - https://twitter.com/hiddencash

-population-we™ blog post by Becky Bohan Brown

© 2014 population-we, LLC 
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I Heart Celebrity Causes Highlights Katy Perry's Generosity Water

I Heart Celebrity Causes.

As a society we like our celebrities and tend to support the causes they endorse with this status. Our celebrities are those that entertain and inspire us such as those that act in the movies, on television and the stage, our favorite musicians, athletes from our favorite teams or provide national pride representing at the Olympics, the authors of our favorite literary works and those that provide contributions in the world of art. Each month in this new population-we™ (pop-we) series, I Heart Celebrity Causes, a celebrity will be chosen and the cause that they promote will be looked at.

This month in the second installment of I Heart Celebrity Causes the focus is on musical artist Katy Perry and Generosity Water. Perry is very philanthropically minded as her efforts have helped more than 50 nonprofit organizations. One she paid special attention to was Generosity Water for which she earmarked part of the ticket sales from her California Dreams tour along with The Humane Society of America and Children’s Health Fund.

From ticket sales raised from 122 California Dreams tour dates over $40,000 was raised for Generosity Water.  As a result the organization was able to build wells in Ghana, India, Laos and Nigeria that provided clean and safe drinking water for over 4000 people. Another result was Perry being named Billboard’s Woman of the Year in 2012.

One sobering fact is over 768 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water. Generosity Water points out that having access to clean water is the first step to breaking the cycle of poverty.  They currently have active projects in Ghana, Haiti, India and Uganda. Since their inception in 2008 they have completed projects worldwide in several countries including Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Honduras, Liberia and Philippines. The greatest impact so far was in Liberia where 50 projects were completed to help over 62,000 people. To date they have been able to bring clean water to over 340,000 people in 19 countries. If you would like to donate to this cause you can visit Generosity Water's donation page.

Want to get involved? Connect with Generosity Water on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Most importantly, Bravo to pop-we I Heart Celebrity Causes--Katy Perry--for her work with Generosity Water!

-population-we™ blog post by John Bohan

© 2014 population-we, LLC 
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WIN Seeks Winning Ideas from Nebraska Nonprofits

Residents in Nebraska don't have to look far to see women reshaping their state through philanthropy. A Nebraska child advocacy center and mobile nurses project benefited from a pooled philanthropy effort in 2012 spearhead by this group of Nebraska women, Women Investing in Nebraska (WIN).

WIN was established in 2011 by the University of Nebraska Foundation and its women in philanthropy committee to connect women and involve them in local philanthropy. Members of WIN pledge to make a gift each year for three years. Its members then pool their resources and collectively grant 50 percent of their annual contributions to a Nebraska nonprofit organization and 50 percent to a University of Nebraska organization.

The 2012 WIN grant recipients included the Nebraska Alliance of Child Advocacy Centers and University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing's Mobile Nurse Managed Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Project. The Nebraska Alliance of Child Advocacy Centers WIN grant helped launch a statewide training initiative focused on preventing and reporting child abuse. The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing WIN grant helped improve healthcare services to the elderly who live in rural areas around Kearney.

"Women Investing in Nebraska is pleased to announce its second grant funding year," said Lisa Smith, chair of WIN's executive committee. "We especially hope to hear again from organizations with bold, innovative ideas or ventures."

Nebraska nonprofit organizations striving to address critical community needs or wishing to make a significant local or state impact are invited to submit their funding ideas to WIN. For information and to submit an online letter of inquiry, go to www.womeninvestinginnebraska.org by Friday, March 1.

WIN will award two grants this year of equal value. One grant will be awarded to a Nebraska charitable organization and another grant will be awarded to an organization or group directly affiliated with the University of Nebraska. Last year, WIN awarded two grants of more than $75,000 each.

Qualifying Nebraska organizations must be designated as nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charities. Organizations and groups affiliated with the University of Nebraska may also submit inquiries. All organizations must submit an inquiry online by March 1 and will be notified about eligibility to submit a formal grant proposal.

If you have not previously applied for a WIN grant, applicants will need to create an account to apply. Full instructions or to view an applicant tutorial, is available at this link.  All previous applicants have been assigned user names and passwords and can retrieve their password via a link on the log-in screen. Please contact Ruth Tewes at 402.458.1235 or rtewes@nufoundation.org with questions.

WIN is also accepting new members. To learn more about membership and upcoming events, go to www.womeninvestinginnebraska.org or call Tracy Edgerton at 402.458.1160 or 800.432.3216.

-population-we™ blog post by Becky Bohan Brown
© 2013 population-we, LLC 
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