Charity Tagging

Yes, this is another tagging ring, and yes I’ve used the term “meme” (apologies to Shawn Collins and David Lewis).

However, this one came from a blogger I hadn’t yet heard of and supports good causes, so I’ve posted this here.

What if the game of Blog-Tag going around the blogosphere in which bloggers are sharing five things about themselves that relatively few people know, and then tagging five other bloggers to be “it” morphed into bloggers sharing the five charities they believe are most worthy of contribution?

Let’s see if this idea will work. I will start by tagging Stefan Tilkov, Scott Mark, David Heinemeier Hansson and one blogger whom I don’t know (even virtually) but will tag via trackback in hopes that they will consider charity a higher priority over etiquette or other secondary concerns.

Somehow James found me and sent me a trackback to participate, so here are five of the charities and groups that I’ve given time and money to over the last few months. This list will vary for you, since I believe that charity should be as immediate and personal as possible. That’s not always possible (Darfur) but it’s a goal that I strive for.

  • Asheville Humane Society
  • Asheville Homeless
  • Asheville Manna Foodbank
  • Heifer.org
  • ACLU (no, I’m not joking… I’m a hippie libertarian and card carrying member)
  • Carl Sagan Foundation

Instead of “tagging” 5 others, I’ll just put out the idea that anyone who reads CPN is encouraged to consider giving either to their local communities or to their region, to their country, world and the Cosmos in general.

However, there’s a better way to spread worthy meme’s like this rather than through tagging (especially since everyone is sick of the “5 Things You Didn’t Know About Me” virus) as I’m sure James knows, and I’m glad to see he’s trying to turn the 5 People thing into something worthwhile. Tagging is wonderful, but it can come across as too forceful. Attack with love and spread good ideas through more subtle means and the payoff for the good causes you’d like to support will be higher. Doing good should be a subversive maneuver hidden away until it germinates. Just my thoughts.

5 Replies to “Charity Tagging”

  1. Interesting. He sent me a trackback too. I wonder why he said he was only tagging one blogger via trackback but now we see that there are at least two.

    BTW, I agree with your view on memes.

    Reply

  2. Hi Ben-

    Yep, that is interesting.

    I’m guessing we’re not the only two.

    Unfortunate.

    If anything, it led me to your blog, which I’ve just subscribed to, so that was worth it!

    Reply

  3. Thanks ;). I’ve decided to not participate in the meme. I’ve never met this guy, have you?

    Reply

  4. Nope, I haven’t either.

    Let me know if you hear any more b/c I’m interested in who this guy is.

    Reply

  5. I was actually doing a Technorati search for “Soldiers Angels” when I came across the meme on Cao’s blog,which led me to James McGovern’s blog…..which led me here.
    I Googled McGovern after reading the comment about who he is,so am glad you asked that question and led me to learn several new things, including probably much more than I wanted to,or could ever understand, about enterprise architecture. 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply