Is the (RED) Campaign an Efficient Way to Raise Money?

The (RED) campaign — an effort to raise money for The Global Fund through the sale of Gap clothing, iPods, and other consumer products — has raised more than $12-million since it was unveiled last fall.

But would the world be better off if do-gooders donated more money directly to charity and spent less on expensive jeans and cellphones?

The BUY (LESS) campaign answers an affirmative yes to that question.

The campaign, which was announced this week, is a direct response to the (RED) effort — challenging the notion that corporate-sponsored marketing deals are good for charity.

“The organizers of BUY (LESS) support genuine efforts to drive more money to charities,” the organization says in a release announcing its new Web site — named www.buylesscrap.org. “But they openly question the efficacy of expensive and wasteful corporate retail cause-marketing efforts like the (RED) campaign.”

The organizers of the effort — the Web-design company Words Pictures Ideas and the communications company Romantic Static — also support legislation that would “bring greater transparency” to charity-corporate marketing arrangements. Such legislation would probably require companies to disclose how much such campaigns cost — and how proceeds are split between the companies and the charities they support.

Several philanthropy bloggers are taking notice, including Joe Waters, who oversees cause marketing at Boston Medical Center and writes the blog Selfish Giving , and Charity Navigator’s president, Trent Stamp.

Says Mr. Stamp: “The fact that the (RED) campaign will never recoup anywhere near as much in charitable proceeds as they spend in marketing the campaign is a huge concern. In the end, all they’re really doing is raising awareness and if that doesn’t lead to their customers choosing to be more benevolent and philanthropic, it’s simply an exercise in futility. It just lets customers and corporations feel good about themselves, without doing much for the intended recipients of the aid.”

You can read more about corporate-charity deals in this recent article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Are corporate-sponsored marketing efforts good for charities?

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