Giving Is the New Buying

Pepsi and Los Angeles-based GOOD have recently forged a relationship whereby the soft drink company will sponsor several funded projects facilitated by GOOD, the burgeoning change-agent platform for "people who give a damn".

In a recent report, Pepsi has announced it will forgo a $20 million dollar ad during this year's Super Bowl in order to divert those funds toward its "Pepsi Refresh Project", a charitable sponsorship in partnership with GOOD. This, to me, seems like a brilliant way for the company to not only keep Pepsi's brand in the public eye, but to associate it with cutting-edge efforts that are working to make the world better.

As a member non-profit world, its exciting to see a global power like Pepsi take the helm toward innovative ways to make a difference that is both profitable and sustainable. I hope other corporations take notice and follow suit. Often, these partnerships are charity-driven, such as in the UNICEF France doll project in which all the huge brands of France sponsored the creation of dolls to be auctioned for charity, and as in the Susan G. Komen Foundation's tie-ins with everything from yogurt to Major League baseball.

I like the hands-on approach Pepsi has taken, especially since the expertise is in the hands of GOOD. Pepsi will be giving away $1,300,000 a month - and the public can vote where those funds go. All you need to do is submit your email and create a password, and you can vote for up to 10 different projects in a day. (See below for some Los Angeles-based projects.) Read more about how it works.

Vote to support these local projects up for grants:

• EAT LACMA According to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's twitter feed, LACMA is "in the running for a grant to fund artists' projects, on-site gardens & public programs." For more information about this project, visit the LACMA website and follow Fallen Fruit on Twitter.
• SABEResPODER Create a digital handbook to the American Dream.
• LA CAUSA YouthBuild Send East L.A. dropouts to a green residency program at UCLA.
• Community Services Unlimited, Inc. Grow food, health, jobs and justice at an urban farm in South Central Los Angeles.
• Imagine LA Allow five families to permanently exit homelessness and poverty.
• Robert Essertier Manufacture a proven, extraordinarily efficient wind turbine.
• Give Your Sole Attend marathon races and collect shoes to give people in need in the U.S.
• FirstGlance Film Festivals KidFest Create a traveling children's film festival
• Ashley Lara Provide 6 Smartboards for for minority, low-income first grade classrooms
• West Valley Pop Warner Pay field usage fee for 175 football players and 50 cheerleaders.
• Springboard Biodiesel Build a network of low-cost, multifeedstock biodiesel production sites

As a sidenote to be explored in further depth in a future post, I'd like to also recognize Disney for it's "Give A Day, Get A Day" volunteer incentive program that has produced a tremendous response of volunteers at The Wellness Community-West Los Angeles, where I work. Like PepsiCo, Disney is utilizing not only it's substantial resources for good, but also spreading awareness for so many great causes. Bravo!