Following Time Magazine’s look at whether movies can make a difference, The New York Times Magazine explored the power of celebrity this Sunday. In their “money issue” they look at how celebrities can be essential in non-profits and other organizations getting money to help their causes:

In 2004, Natalie Portman, then a 22-year-old fresh from college, went to Capitol Hill to talk to Congress on behalf of the Foundation for International Community Assistance, or Finca, a microfinance organization for which she served as “ambassador.” She found herself wondering what she was doing there, but her colleagues assured her: “We got the meetings because of you.” For lawmakers, Natalie Portman was not simply a young woman “” she was the beautiful Padmé from “Star Wars.” “And I was like, “˜That seems totally nuts to me,’ “ Portman told me recently. It’s the way it works, I guess. I’m not particularly proud that in our country I can get a meeting with a representative more easily than the head of a nonprofit can.” [NY TIMES]

Of course it’s much more complicated than just finding a celebrity to support your cause and on the flip side, it can be hard to be a celebrity that is being recruited by numerous charities:

The stars themselves have their own retainers to fend off the celebrity recruiters and to screen and sift charitable opportunities; publicists say their major clients get dozens of requests every week. The more deeply committed figures, like Angelina Jolie, retain firms like the Global Philanthropy Group, which, according to a representative, offers “comprehensive philanthropic management.” This includes establishing and staffing foundations, bringing in subject-area experts or even helping the novice philanthropist figure out what he or she actually wants to do. A similar organization, the Giving Back Fund, works with athletes like the quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the basketball players Jalen Rose and Shane Battier.

Both the stars and the causes, in turn, depend on corporate sponsorship. It is the sponsors who pay for the galas at which the stars raise money for their causes; sponsors normally pay for the stars’ first-class air tickets and hotel suites. Corporations need causes as much as stars do. Like the stars, they understand that they must shape and protect their brand identities; and they understand that those identities will be judged by the broad public, through public acts. As Howard Bragman puts it, “Celebrities, sponsors and a cause: it’s the golden troika of branding.” [NY Times]

You should definitely check out the entire article - part of it’s message is that the world is a very complex place and people’s desire to simplify it is part of the problem - which is why I haven’t summed it all up for you!

So, to learn more about Finca and also, to read the rest of the issue - there are a ton of great articles about the very things that lie at the heart of philanthropy, charities and how money plays a role in making the world a better place. Some of the articles include:

What Makes People Give?

Questions for Larry Brilliant : Corporate Giver

Bottom-Line Philanthropy

Faces of Social Entrepreneurship