American Express's THE MEMBERS PROJECT

I get this email in my inbox from American Express and right before I click the "send to my junk folder" icon, I realize that it may not actually be junk. A link later and I realize that one of the largest credit card companies in the world is going to give away up to $5 million to a charity of MY chosing! And looking over the entire operation are an Advisory Board of Allstars in Charity including

Geoff Cananda - President and CEO of Harlems Children Zone
Ellen Degeneres - Talk show host and Comedian
Dr Jane Goodall - Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace
Dr Sanjay Gupta - CNN Medical Correspondent and Neurosurgeon
Rosabeth Moss Kanter - Harvard Business School Professor
Dr. Micheal Lomax - President and CEO of the United Negro College Fund
Wynton Marsalis - Artistic Director, Jazz at Lincoln Center
Gabriells Reece - Professional Volleyball Player and Fitness Professional

But how does it work? From what I gather it goes something like this: Card members sign up and for each person who signs up to vote, the pot that goes to the winning organization gets bigger (up to $5million). There are three rounds of voting to narrow down the winner. Right now it is in the top 50, then the top 25, and lastly the top 5. I am not sure whether or not you have to be voting from the start in order to vote for the others, but the whole idea seems pretty promising, and the fact that there are some pretty big names on the "advisory board" makes me feel like the whole thing is a pretty good cause.

So what is the good and the bad of the process?

Well, you have to be an American Express Card holder in order to vote. I wouldn't use it as a reason to sign up for American Express, but if you have one, it is a pretty good deed that they are sponsoring.

After you sign in with your AMEX password, you create a screen name. I suppose you are supposed to go back multiple times and keep on voting, but just in getting that screen name, you are making sure that AMEX adds 1$ to the total pot that the winning organization gets! So no worries if you dont have that long term commitment to keep going back. But if you do, that is great too!

I did have a bit of concern that you were actually signing in to your credit card account in order to access this website. I believe it to be safe because it is still within the AMEX site, but do make sure to log out like usual!

And how do you chose which group is the best? How do you chose between Animal welfare and clean water for children in Africa? Between Windmill farms and money for the family of veterans killed in war? 50 choices is too hard, especially when they are all for a good cause. I recommend NOT going to the full list of the 50, but to use the tabs to sort the charities by cause. This way you can narrow your search to "Environment and Wildlife" as I did.

So what did I chose? I chose the "PLANT A MILLION TREES: GLOBAL REFORESTATION" group. I knew that it would be an ecological thing, and this one just stuck out at me... Here is a description from the website of the proposed project.

Trees clean our air and water, provide homes and food for wildlife. They breathe in CO2 and breathe out oxygen, storing the carbon and reducing atmospheric CO2, a greenhouse gas. Trees also slow and filter rainwater and prevent erosion.
In cities, trees make good neighbors, increasing the value of homes, lowering energy costs with their cooling shade, and saving money that would be spent on managing stormwater. Their soothing presence has been shown to reduce the incidence of asthma, shorten hospital stays, encourage recreation, and help focus children with attention deficit disorders.
Worldwide, tropical forests support half the species on earth, but this biodiversity is in peril from rampant deforestation.
The world needs more trees.
If the Plant One Million Trees American Express Members Project is selected for funding, American Forests would provide cash grants to local organizations to restore damaged forest ecosystems by planting trees. In cities, trees would be planted on streets and in parks; in rural areas, public forests decimated by wildfire, insects, and disease would return. Our Global ReLeaf program has planted 25 million trees across the world so far.
Our extensive network of tree planting partners both here and abroad guarantees the right trees are planted in the right spots with the right follow-up care.

So, dont take my word for it that this is the best cause in the competition. Grab your password for your AMEX card and go sign up and see. Leave me and post and let me know who you thought was worthy for $5 million from American Express.

http://www.membersproject.com/

Voting wont last forever!! LOG ON SOON!

Welcome!

A blog with this concept has been on my mind for quite some time.

Imagine the vastness of the internet, the myriad of websites, all the faux knowledge mixed in with the truth, all the scams and silliness, and then in one corner of the closet we call the internet there are some really amazing sites. Sites that make a difference; sites with IMPACT on humanity, environment, animal welfare. Sites that are overlooked and often seldom seen.

These are the sites that will be highlighted here on this blog. So forgive me for the lack of daily blogging, or the paucity of material for how many truly amazing sites do you know about?

One day, however, this blog will be brimming with sites for you to peruse... One day...