The Stars of Social Good Series is supported by CITGO and the Fueling Good Campaign, helping to change the world through contributions to local charities.  It’s one thing to say that celebrities can help non-profits raise money and awareness. It’s another thing to actually call a celebrity like George Clooney or Brangelina and get them onboard.  As much as the debate rages for and against celebrities getting mixed up with charities, there is a fine art to getting them involved in the first place. Mashable spoke with two non-profits with an amazing track record of grabbing top talent. Malaria No More‘s “Comedy Fights Malaria” managed to snag dozens of celebs, including jokesters from The Office and musicians like John Mayer. DoSomething.org has had similar success getting a cadre of celebs including Usher, Rihanna, Olympic athletes, Lennox Lewis and more.  So how’d they do it? Read on for some tips on how to get celebrities involved with your online charitable work and make a difference.  This is one of those tips that everyone knows and nobody does. “Do your homework” doesn’t just mean figure out who is the most famous celebrity but figuring whom to approach and how to approach them for success.  “When you reach out, you need to be really specific as to why you’re reaching out,” says Joel Goldman, Malaria No More’s director of entertainment industry relations (read: “celeb guru”). For example, Goldman keeps an eye out for any celebrities traveling to Africa whom he could approach about issues surrounding malaria.  The best way to reach celebs is still to send emails and place calls to their representatives, but a pitch that clearly explains the goals of the campaign and why that particular celebrity is a great fit have a better chance at success. The more research you do and the more detailed the pitch, the more success you’ll have.  “Doing your homework and really knowing the right person for the right campaign is so important,” says DoSomething.org’s Editor-In-Chief Betsy Fast. “[Celebrities] are just way, way too busy to deal with a request that isn’t really suitable.”  Celebrities come in all shapes and sizes, so reach out to a range of people, from A-listers to B-listers to even hometown heroes who can really evangelize your cause. “A lot of times my best advice is not to go for the obvious that everyone is sending invites to, like George Clooney or Angelina Jolie,” Goldman says. “I try to find fun people across a different spectrum.”  That strategy helped Malaria No More bag a ton of top-rate comedians like BJ Novak and Ed Helms, instead of just aiming for one or two mega-stars like Robin Williams. “I don’t try and discount anybody that’s trying to get involved,” Goldman says.  There are additional benefits to reaching for new talent, says Fast. “Up and coming stars are loyal and more flexible, time-wise. And because they have more time, they’re better able to understand [the charity]. They can take another five minutes to learn about the cause.”  So what do you send? Every pitch will be different, but both Goldman and Fast advocate for precision and persistence. “For every ‘yes’ I get, I probably got about 10 ‘nos,’ It’s a lot harder than it looks,” Goldman says.  It’s important to reach out to a large number of potential celebrities, but make sure that each one will actually fit into your campaign. “I think press and donors really see when people just sign their name to something as opposed to when they’re really committed,” Goldman says.  It’s a similar problem for Fast: “It’s important to be able to back up why a particular celebrity is on it. It could be because the name is so huge and anything that his or her name is associated with does well. But with a super-duper A-lister, you may not be able to rely on him or her to continue to carry the torch for you.”  To wit, both Fast and Goldman are putting together a Celebrity Corps for their respective charities. The idea is to have a group of spokespeople that the charity can call on across several genres. By having a mix of athletes, musicians, actors and personalities, the charities can break into an equally large range of demographics to drum up support.  Having a celebrity sponsor rarely hurts a cause, but the time and energy needed to maintain that relationship can stretch smaller organizations. Celebrities aren’t a necessary part of the non-profit world, even though they can deliver big results.  A lot of the decision comes down to scale and being reasonable with who you approach. Large organizations like Malaria No More or DoSomething.org can reach for the Ushers and John Mayers of the world, but local groups might have just as much, if not more success by finding spokespeople that speak specifically to their audience. “It’s not just about celebrities that I like,” Fast says. “You really have to understand your target audience and find celebrities that are appealing to them … is it appropriate for that shelter in Idaho to be making an ask for Ashton Kutcher? I’d say no, but there might be a smaller celebrity that could be so helpful and be really loyal.”  Celebrity spokespeople are a blessing and a curse: A great relationship can bring in tremendous results, but a poor relationship can also cause undue headaches and stress. Still, Goldman and Fast say that their celebrity ambassadors have helped their cause. “To me, it’s kind of sad — as a personal opinion — that we need someone on [the Ellen DeGeneres Show] to say something … but that’s what our society is. We care about what we care about and what the people we see on TV care about,” Goldman says. But he stays optimistic: “If you work in a non-profit and want to make a difference, celebrities are just a great tool to do that.”  The Stars of Social Good Series is supported by CITGO and the Fueling Good Campaign. It all starts with one person helping another. Then that person helps two more. Pretty soon you have a neighborhood, a community, an entire city – one act of kindness inspiring another. That’s why CITGO donates thousands of gallons of gas to worthy charities. It’s our way of keeping the momentum going.
Celebrities can be a huge help to any non-profit, but how can you actually get one or two on board? We spoke to organizations that have had real success.