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Here are the three possible charities that I have chosen for the Final Fantasy marathon. Polling will be open for one week (until 27 October 2012), at which point I will contact the top-polling charity. As I mentioned before, if the top polling charity turns out to be insufferable to work with, I will move on to the next charity.
Obviously, being human, I have a (slight) preference among these three charities. However, in an effort not to bias the polling, I have tried my best to be objective in writing out the positives and negatives for each charity. I will cast a single vote, like everyone else; and, to further obfuscate my preference, I will cast my vote sometime in the middle of the week (so no, the first vote cast is not mine).
Let's destroy some FF games for a great cause
Option 1: The Stollery Children's Hospital
http://www.stollerykids.com
The Stollery is a hospital for children, located in Edmonton. The benefits of choosing this charity include that it is a smaller charity, so I think that we would be dealing with actual people instead of a faceless PR machine. Helping sick kids is a pretty big draw for donors; and, additionally, no one working for the Stollery can get the hiccups without the local media reporting on it. However, one big drawback to choosing the Stollery is that it could be too local in its focus, serving children only in one tiny, frozen corner of the world. Any media coverage I could drum up would certainly be local as well.
Option 2: JDRF Canada
http://www.jdrf.ca
JDRF is an organization dedicated to researching Type I diabetes. Initially, I was concerned that this would be a very large charity to target, and that we'd be dealing with the faceless PR machine. However, it seems that they have a strong inclination towards local outreach (c.f., http://www.jdrf.ca/locations/north-central-alberta-nwt-region/edmonton/), having an office and staff with actual names located in Edmonton. While they do not have the same media presence that the Stollery has, I feel that we could still get good local, and perhaps wider, coverage. Based on their website, I feel that JDRF Canada is the charity where we would most likely be able to get someone to briefly attend and interview at the marathon.
JDRF Canada is the Canadian affiliate of the American charity JDRF -- in other words, the same charity, just a different legal entity due to it being located in a different country. Despite the fact that JDRF might sound more international (not having "Canada" in its name), JDRF funds research within the US, whereas JDRF Canada funds research within Canada. So, they're equally non-international. I chose JDRF Canada as the second option in this poll, as opposed to JDRF (US), because I felt it would be silly to squander the local presence of the former.
Option 3: Charity: Water
http://www.charitywater.org
Charity: Water is a is a charity dedicated to bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. This charity is obviously a smaller charity where we would be dealing with real people (their entire staff is listed on a single page: http://www.charitywater.org/about/staff.php). This charity obviously has an international focus, and a wide appeal. Out of the three charities in this poll, this charity could perhaps have the widest appeal to an international audience. The downside to choosing this charity is that they are located in New York, so I don't think that we would receive the same local support and coverage as with either of the other two options.
Obviously, being human, I have a (slight) preference among these three charities. However, in an effort not to bias the polling, I have tried my best to be objective in writing out the positives and negatives for each charity. I will cast a single vote, like everyone else; and, to further obfuscate my preference, I will cast my vote sometime in the middle of the week (so no, the first vote cast is not mine).
Let's destroy some FF games for a great cause
Option 1: The Stollery Children's Hospital
http://www.stollerykids.com
The Stollery is a hospital for children, located in Edmonton. The benefits of choosing this charity include that it is a smaller charity, so I think that we would be dealing with actual people instead of a faceless PR machine. Helping sick kids is a pretty big draw for donors; and, additionally, no one working for the Stollery can get the hiccups without the local media reporting on it. However, one big drawback to choosing the Stollery is that it could be too local in its focus, serving children only in one tiny, frozen corner of the world. Any media coverage I could drum up would certainly be local as well.
Option 2: JDRF Canada
http://www.jdrf.ca
JDRF is an organization dedicated to researching Type I diabetes. Initially, I was concerned that this would be a very large charity to target, and that we'd be dealing with the faceless PR machine. However, it seems that they have a strong inclination towards local outreach (c.f., http://www.jdrf.ca/locations/north-central-alberta-nwt-region/edmonton/), having an office and staff with actual names located in Edmonton. While they do not have the same media presence that the Stollery has, I feel that we could still get good local, and perhaps wider, coverage. Based on their website, I feel that JDRF Canada is the charity where we would most likely be able to get someone to briefly attend and interview at the marathon.
JDRF Canada is the Canadian affiliate of the American charity JDRF -- in other words, the same charity, just a different legal entity due to it being located in a different country. Despite the fact that JDRF might sound more international (not having "Canada" in its name), JDRF funds research within the US, whereas JDRF Canada funds research within Canada. So, they're equally non-international. I chose JDRF Canada as the second option in this poll, as opposed to JDRF (US), because I felt it would be silly to squander the local presence of the former.
Option 3: Charity: Water
http://www.charitywater.org
Charity: Water is a is a charity dedicated to bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. This charity is obviously a smaller charity where we would be dealing with real people (their entire staff is listed on a single page: http://www.charitywater.org/about/staff.php). This charity obviously has an international focus, and a wide appeal. Out of the three charities in this poll, this charity could perhaps have the widest appeal to an international audience. The downside to choosing this charity is that they are located in New York, so I don't think that we would receive the same local support and coverage as with either of the other two options.
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