Playmate Brande Roderick is my pick! (NBC)
On Sunday, the second season of The Celebrity Apprentice premiered on NBC (great recap here). In college, some of my business professors would spend 15-20 minutes in class discussing key lessons from the show and turning the reality debacle into interesting case studies.
While watching Sunday's show, I decided to bring back those good old days and jot down some lessons that I could share with my nonprofit brethen!
Background: The contestants are split into two teams (male and female) and have to bake and sell cupcakes to raise money for charity. The teams prepare their delicious treats and set up shop in tourist-friendly sections of Times Square.
Here are my Top 3 lessons that to be applied in the NPO setting:
1. When fundraising, never underestimate the power of your network!
More than a few of the contestants called their famous friends and asked them to come by and make donations! Celebs, including Tony Hawk, Eric Benet, Hugh Hefner (via a bunny), all made hefty donations simply because they were asked. And, to the benefit of the women's team, over 100 Playboy employees came to the site and purchased cupcakes for charity! In the boardroom, Tom Green mentioned that he wanted his teammates to call their friends and get them to come down, but the idea received a cool reception. Big mistake! Well, that and the fact that the men's cupcakes were "disgusting."
2. Internal squabbles and discord should be kept out of donors' sight.
Towards the end of the challenge, the women were running out of cupcakes and decided to be selective about how many to allocate per donor (based on funds given). Brande (pictured above) brought over two friends who were willing to make a hefty donation and asked for about 20 or so cupcakes. This prompted a disagreement between Brande and poker phenom, Annie Duke WHILE the donors were standing right there! Brande even made a remark about it to the gentlemen. Hmm...while I was on Brande's side of the argument, I think both ladies should've had that conversation off to the side. Why? Well, it's simple. When I give my money to a cause, I don't want to worry about the professionalism of the organization. Don't make me (or donors) second-guess giving you money.
3. It's great to have a celebrity ambassador, but you have to make sure the commitment is there!
Dennis Rodman was arguably the main attraction for customers (fans) who came over to the guys' cupcake truck. Where was he though? Inside the truck on the phone for the majority of the challenge. When his teammates tried to get him on the street, he would appear for a few minutes then crawl back inside. Later, in the boardroom, Dennis blamed it on leadership and says that he didn't have clear instructions, etc. It all sounded pretty lame. The point here is that when you have celebrities represent your organization, be very clear about what you expect of them. And, if there are problems or signals gets crossed, don't be afraid to say something! You can have the face of a celeb, or you can have the face, the voice, the connections, and the commitment of a celeb. See the difference?
In the end, the women's team won the challenge and gave the total funds raised (about $125,000) to God's Love We Deliver, a NYC organization which delivers healthy meals to individuals living with serious illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS and cancer. I have a feeling that a lot of money will be raised during this season, and I'm pretty excited to watch it all happen!
Did you all watch the show? I'm interested in hearing your picks for the winner. As you can see, my money is on Brande Roderick, but we shall see. Right?
-kb
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