Paris Hilton wants to do her community service at your organization
09:07, 23 October 2010
.. Posted in Volunteerism and Volunteer Management0 trackbacks
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As long as the sun shines and the fish swim and the birds fly, celebrities will get into trouble with the law.
When I read a report of Mr. or Ms. Famous being arrested and then being assigned community service, I play a mental game of trying to place that person in the appropriate volunteering gig.
For those who are super talented and at least marginally well-liked, it's easy: help the person to lead a workshop for kids in acting, singing, dancing, sculpting, whatever. Have the person help sell tickets to an upcoming performance by a community theater, community choir concert, etc. Take massive amounts of photos and post them on Flickr with complete info on the nonprofit they are helping. Show them sitting in on the volunteer orientation, and when a new volunteer says he or she doesn't have time, you say, "Look -- Mr./Ms. Famous had to go through our orientation! We make exceptions for no one!" As long as the celebrity in question is talented, known to be somewhat nice, and hasn't done something so awful that I wouldn't want it associated with any organization I care about, I can come up with at least several dozen ideas for them.
But what about the celebrities who are famous for nothing? Or are not nice? Or are not anyone you want anywhere near your clientele? Or aren't anyone you want identified with your nonprofit in any way?
What if the celebrity is, say, Paris Hilton? Paris needs to do 200 community service hours, no kidding. Or what if its Lindsay Lohan -- who actually is talented, but the talent is buried beneath a range of very bad behavior and denial? Or Mel Gibson, also talented but also someone who has engaged in behavior many nonprofits do NOT want associated with their organization?
Post your thoughts here. Answer any of these questions:
- If you represent a nonprofit organization, would you involve Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan or Mel Gibson as a volunteer? If so, say what your nonprofit does and what activities you would have any or all of these folks do as volunteers.
- If you represent a nonprofit that would NOT involve any of these folks because their past behavior and involving them could reflect poorly on your organization (and even conflict with the mission of your organization), what kinds of volunteering elsewhere would you recommend for them?
- If you said yes to involving Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan or Mel Gibson as a volunteer, and you started getting calls from current volunteers saying they are going to quit because they don't want to be associated with your organization or these people, or from donors who say they will never donate again, what would you say?
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