She's here to help

Do Celeb Do-Gooders Actually Do Any, Uh, Good?

Fri., Oct. 16, 2009 3:09 PM PDT by Leslie Gornstein

UNHCR/ S. Malkawi

Yet another star, Mia Farrow, has spoken out for poor people. Does that translate into dollars or just "awareness"?
—Haro, Wisconsin

I love awareness. Such a fine cause, that. Between Angelina Jolie and the refugees (sounds like a Tom Petty cover band, don't it?), Brad Pitt and his work in New Orleans, Mia Farrow and the kids from Gaza, and Orlando Bloom, who recently signed on to help out UNICEF...I just feel so much more aware!

Like, every single second!

But are the stars achieving anything else for the needy? Like, say, money? Depends on one thing...

...does the dollar value of the star outstrip the celebrity's appearance cost? Because some stars do charge for their help promoting a cause, and it ain't in the hundreds.

For most charities, I've learned, the money needed to hire a star—or just the hand-holding required to stroke an overlarge personality—is completely worth it. Take Denzel Washington, whose face is all over billboards promoting the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

"BGCA has doubled in size—including the money raised and our awareness levels—since Denzel became our spokesperson," says BGCA senior vice president Evan McElroy. "We believe that his involvement and endorsement have contributed significantly to that growth."

Other causes don't measure success in dollars, simply because they're trying to do something less tangible, like helping women to escape from abuse.

That's one of the goals of the Allstate Foundation, and, according to program manager Jennifer Kuhn, when the organization hired Ana Ortiz and Mira Sorvino to do some campaigns, media hits went through the roof.

And when Susan Sarandon went on Oprah to talk about a charity that donates livestock to needy families, "calls were significantly higher" afterward, Chris Talbott, a spokesman for Heifer International, tells me.

Occasionally, a star will, shockingly, waive a fee and actually put in money to a cause instead, resulting in an even bigger net gain. That indeed happened with Heifer.

"Celebrities associated with Heifer International are regular donors themselves. They are not just faces associated with the cause," Talbott tells me. "So in a concrete way, they are contributing, not costing Heifer. When Diane Lane traveled to see Heifer's work in Rwanda with her daughter Eleanor, she joined a paid tour, at no expense to Heifer."

Awareness? For free? Imagine that.

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See who else offers a hand in our Do-Gooder Gallery.