Posted by: travelersphilanthropy | May 2, 2008

Unspoiled by Wealth: Travel Philanthropists

“There are instances of millionaires’ sons unspoiled by wealth, who, being rich, still perform great services in the community. Such are the very salt of the earth, as valuable as, unfortunately, they are rare; still it is not the exception, but the rule, that men must regard, and, looking at the usual result of enormous sums conferred upon legatees, the thoughtful man must shortly say, “I would as soon leave to my son a curse as the almighty dollar,” and admit to himself that it is not the welfare of the children, but family pride, which inspires these enormous legacies.” -Andrew Carnegie

Learn More:
Teach your Children Well: Philanthropic Travel
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Teach your Children Well: Philanthropic Travel
Parents Dedicated to Instilling Philanthropic Values in their Children
Travel Philanthropy: Creating Peace
Asking & Receiving: Philanthropic Travel

Philanthropic Travelers:
Marc Gold’s 100Friends lead Philanthropic Travelers in Asia, Africa & South America
Beau Bressler: Philanthropic Visionary

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Posted by: travelersphilanthropy | April 29, 2008

Participatory Philanthropy: Black Rock Solar


Black Rock Solar’s story is that of “The Wisdom of Stone Soup“, realizing the full potential of ‘collaboration creates prosperity.

Black Rock Solar is a non-profit project of the Burning Man community, focused on addressing climate change and speeding the adoption curve of renewable energy. By installing renewable energy at low or no cost, Black Rock Solar puts much needed funds in the hands of communities typically not served by the renewable energy industry -who then get to decide how to best meet their own needs. Along the way, Black Rock Solar creates educational opportunities for philanthropic travelers and beneficiaries, and sponsor training to broaden the solar power industry.

Building solar power creates energy independence and helps to reverse the adverse effects of global climate change. More importantly, the money saved by using solar power stays in the school and community directly benefiting the people who need it most. For example, Black Rock Solar’s Gerlach project, finished in December 2008 provides 90kW of solar energy for the Gerlach Elementary School which will put another $20,000 per year directly into that schools budget -every year for the next 20 or 30 years!

Black Rock Solar are hard at work on their latest installation -a 60KW array for the Natchez School in Wadsworth, NV. Take a look at the location from space right here. The 60 kilowatt solar power system is expected to generate 108,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, resulting in savings of approximately $360,000 over the next 25 years. Natchez Elementary School and the Washoe County School District will share the savings, with half directly supporting the school’s budget and the other half sponsoring a special fund to support conservation efforts throughout the district.

This new system will help us give our students a very real lesson in the benefits of solar energy,” said Natchez Elementary School Principal Rick Taylor. “All in all, the solar array will benefit the environment, give our classrooms a reliable source of electricity, and help us direct precious dollars toward education rather than energy bills.

If we are going to seriously address climate change, we need to make renewable energy available to all, a mission that Black Rock Solar aims to achieve by dramatically lowering the cost of solar for communities that otherwise would not have access to these clean technologies,” said Price. “With this solar energy system at Natchez Elementary -the second project of its kind for Black Rock Solar and our partners -we are no longer just asking the question, ‘what if solar was free?’ We’re busy answering it.”

In recognition of Black Rock Solar’s work to bring low and no cost solar power to rural schools and hospitals across Nevada, Black Rock Solar Executive Director Tom Price was honored recently as one of People Magazine’s “Environmental Heroes” for 2008.

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel actively supports Black Rock Solar’s efforts to create a 60KW solar array at Natchez Elementary School on the Pyramid Lake Native American Paiute Tribe Reservation in Wadsworth, Nevada.

Posted by: travelersphilanthropy | April 26, 2008

Globerati.com: Philanthropic Travelers


How to make a difference abroad when you’re in the dough and not the peace corps.” -Globerati.com on Philanthropic Travel

“Some of us vacation for the sun. Or the culture. Or the hot stone massage. Or the white-knuckle ride. Or the Michelin-starred menus. But now, a new breed of altruistic adventurer is pushing the frontiers of philanthropic travel -and having it all. Just don’t confuse it with voluntourism -that’s for people with more time than money. For those who have it the other way around, the options to embrace high-end travel and keep their humanity intact are growing fast.

Exquisite Safaris, for example, bills itself as ‘the pioneer of private, luxury philanthropic travel,’ and tailors its five-star trips to destinations where clients get to interact with local communities.

As Fast Company puts it: ‘In between watching cheetahs on the plains of the Serengeti and getting pampered with spa treatments, you may spend a morning teaching kids how to read.” -Marc Jolly Founder & Editor Globerati.com

Learn More:
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Teach your Children Well: Philanthropic Travel
Affluent Parents Dedicated to Instilling Philanthropic Values in their Children
Travel Philanthropy: Creating Peace
Asking & Receiving: Philanthropic Travel

Philanthropic Travelers:
Marc Gold’s 100Friends lead Philanthropic Travelers in Asia, Africa & South America
Beau Bressler: Philanthropic Visionary

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Posted by: travelersphilanthropy | April 13, 2008

Philanthrocapitalism

“We get stakeholders on the ground visiting communities where they have business and philanthropic interests. Combining business opportunities with NGO project/community visits with cultural immersion and empathetic insight is essential for effective oversight and sustainable donor support worldwide.” -David Chamberlain

The CSR/CR Corporate Philanthropy Challenge:
Many multi national corporations are beginning to create or struggling to execute comprehensive corporate responsibility programs at overseas operations that partner with NGO’s in communities to create medical services, children’s education, and micro-enterprise training and funding while reducing their negative environmental impact and addressing climate change.

Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Corporate Donor & Advisor Services works closely with corporate stakeholders, philanthropic advisors (employees, customers, board members, investors) using a consultative methodology to inspire, educate and empower CR/CSR initiatives to navigate cross cultural issues, corporate/non-profit relations and sustainable effectiveness while upholding a respect for indigenous culture and environments.

Corporate Donor Philanthropic Travel is an essential element in the process of creating new corporate CR/CSR initiatives -not only in vetting potential NGO’s for future funding, but also to create authentic relationships based on cultural respect and shared vision. Our corporate advisor & travel services emphasize the importance of personal connections that flourish when sustainability, respect and profit are the ultimate goals.

Exquisite Safaris Corporate Donor Travel Services provides organizations with professional stakeholder visits to NGO projects that are aligned with their company’s humanitarian, economic and environmental CSR goals initiatives. Exquisite Safaris Corporate Donor Travel leverages the Creative Capitalism Model to create, manage and support customized CSR Initiatives.

Bill Gates on Creative Capitalism CR/CSR at the World Economic Forum
“In many crucial areas, the world is getting better…but it’s not getting better fast enough, and it’s not getting better for everyone,” Bill Gates said in Davos on Thursday as he called for a more concerted global drive toward what he calls “Creative Capitalism.”

He said that companies, especially the biggest ones, can improve the lot of the world’s least privileged by better aligning their self-interest with the good of society.

“There are two great forces -self interest and caring for others,” he said. But he noted that “profits are not always possible when business tries to serve the very poor.” However, he noted the power of “recognition which enhances a company’s reputation,” calling it a way to more strongly appeal to customers and attract better employees. Thus indirectly, he insisted, companies can concretely benefit by doing good.

Gates spoke of what he believes is the growing global movement for corporate social responsibility. But businesses, government and nonprofits need to work together better to “stretch the reach of market forces,” so more companies can make a profit doing work that will “improve the world.” (That phrase is included in the tagline that defines the purpose of the World Economic Forum.) -DAVOS, SWITZERLAND (CNN)

Learn More:
Contact Exquisite Safaris Corporate Donor Philanthropic Travel Services
Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide signs the United Nations Global Compact
Harvard Business Review Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector: Philanthropic Travel
Why Corporate Social Responsibility is Good for Business and How to Distinguish Between True and False CSR.
Exquisite Safaris clients say…
Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide
US Air Magazine on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel: Travel with a Heart
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
The Fable of Stone Soup
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Are We Talking about Philanthropy Yet? No, We Are Not
Travel Philanthropy: Creating Peace
Fast Company Magazine on Philanthropic Travel
PersonalLifemedia.com on Philanthropic Travel
Philanthropic Traveler funded High School opens near Victoria Falls, Zambia

Philanthropic Travelers:
The The One’s Who Do: Visionary Philanthropic Travelers
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Marc Gold 100 Friends Project
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Chellie Kew
Milton & Fred Ochieng: Philanthropic Travelers
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler
Angelina Jolie: Philanthropic Traveler
Oprah Winfrey: Philanthropic Traveler
Palm Beach Life Magazine: Philanthropic Travelers

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Posted by: travelersphilanthropy | April 13, 2008

Teach your Children Well: Travel Philanthropy

Marc Gold was set on the path he now travels when he was just a child, when his father, photographer Albert Gold, explained “the meaning of life.” He took the 8-year-old into the bathroom and had him look in the mirror. Gold recounts the conversation:

Albert: ”What do you see?’
Marc: ‘I see myself.’
Albert: ‘Okay. How old will you be in 70 years?’
Marc: ‘78.’
Albert: ‘Okay, when you are 78 years old, look in the mirror again and ask yourself one question, because by then your life will be almost over: ‘Did you live a life that made this a better world or not? Very simple. If the answer is yes, I am proud of you, and if not, I am disappointed.’
Marc: ‘But how am I going to make this a better world?’
Albert: ‘That’s your job. You figure it out.’

Picture: Mark Tomaras

Learn More:
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Teach your Children Well: Philanthropic Travel
Affluent Parents Dedicated to Instilling Philanthropic Values in their Children
Travel Philanthropy: Creating Peace
Asking & Receiving: Philanthropic Travel

Philanthropic Travelers:
Marc Gold’s 100Friends lead Philanthropic Travelers in Asia, Africa & South America
Beau Bressler: Philanthropic Visionary

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Posted by: travelersphilanthropy | March 31, 2008

The Happiness of Mission: Philanthropic Travel

“It is not necessary that you leave the house. Remain at your table and listen. Do not even listen, only wait. Do not even wait, be wholly still and alone. The world will present itself to you for its unmasking, it can do no other, in ecstasy it will writhe at your feet.” -Franz Kafka

“He is not talking about the pursuit of happiness. He’s not even talking, as one might easily and incorrectly conclude, about lying in wait for happiness. He’s talking about making oneself genuinely available to it. He is talking about opening one’s senses to the little delights - the sunsets, the lilac-scented breezes, the hilarious bartender jokes, the quick flash of anonymous smiles, the inside straights, the large purring cats, the click of stiletto heels, the popping of bubble-wrap, the liquid song of the meadowlark, the shrug of a New York cop - the granular texture of unsolicited joy. There have been many hard times in my life - including the present - when I took refuge in reduced focus, comforting myself with the glorious filigree of immediate existence. Even a man facing a firing squad can appreciate the dawn that also arrays itself before him.

Finally, and always, there is love. By this, I don’t mean that economic bargain that often passes for love these days. I don’t mean that I will love you if you get good grades, or that I will love you if you’ll sleep with me, or that I will love you for anything. I mean what I mean when I say, “I love you.” Period. Without expectation, condition, term limit, codicil, or obligation. To say that - and to mean it in that way - makes me happy.
What makes me happiest of all is when someone says “I love you” to me - meaning it as unconditionally as I intend to mean it - and I simply accept it. Learning to accept unconditional love has been the most demanding part of my education. It requires me to love myself as much as I am loved, which is not easy, since I like to pretend that my loathsome short-comings are invisible to all but me. Still, when I love without goal and accept love without doubt, I am happy. In this, I am not pursuing happiness. I am becoming it.” - John Perry Barlow Photo: scottlondon.com

Learn More:
In Pursuit of Emptiness: Philanthropic Travel
Global Cooling?
Correlation of Fortunes: Philanthropic Travel
Social Neuroscience: Philanthropic Travel
Collaboration creates Prosperity: Philanthropic Travel
Exquisite Safaris Corporate Donor Philanthropic Advisory Services
Creative Capitalism: Partner with Exquisite Safaris
The High-Purpose Company: Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide
Exquisite Safaris clients say…
Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide
US Air Magazine on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel: Travel with a Heart
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
The Fable of Stone Soup
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Are We Talking about Philanthropy Yet? No, We Are Not
Travel Philanthropy: Creating Peace
Fast Company Magazine on Philanthropic Travel
PersonalLifemedia.com on Philanthropic Travel
Philanthropic Traveler funded High School opens near Victoria Falls, Zambia

Philanthropic Travelers:
The The One’s Who Do: Visionary Philanthropic Travelers
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Marc Gold 100 Friends Project
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Chellie Kew
Milton & Fred Ochieng: Philanthropic Travelers
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler
Angelina Jolie: Philanthropic Traveler
Oprah Winfrey: Philanthropic Traveler
Palm Beach Life Magazine: Philanthropic Travelers

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Posted by: travelersphilanthropy | March 31, 2008

Paradigm Alert: Pay it Green


PayItGreen is a simple, safe, and smart way to have a positive impact on the environment! The average household receives approximately 19 bills and statements and makes approximately 7 payments in paper form monthly. The average consumer saves 2.5 minutes per bill when paying electronically instead of with a check3. The cost of postage and check stock can add up to more than $100 per year; these costs can be saved by making payments electronically, instead of by paper check. Also, credit scores are significantly increased when a consumer receives payments by Direct Deposit and uses Direct Payment to pay recurring monthly bills and/or save and invest automatically.

Improve security.
Consumers receiving electronic bills and statements and making payments electronically can maintain tighter control over accounts in real time. Almost 85 percent of identity theft cases are due to “offline” transactions such as lost checkbooks and stolen bills, statements, and check payments.

By switching to electronic bills, statements, and payments, every year the average household can:
* Save 6.6 pounds of paper
* Save 0.079 trees
* Avoid use of 4.5 gallons of gasoline to mail bills, statements, and payments
* Avoid release of 63 gallons of wastewater into the environment
* Avoid producing 171 pounds of greenhouse gas

Saving this amount of greenhouse gas is the equivalent of:
* The emissions avoided by not driving 169 miles
* The emissions avoided by not consuming 8.8 gallons of gasoline
* Planting 2 tree seedlings and allowing them to grow for 10 years
* Preserving 24 square feet of forest from deforestation

With many households participating, these small contributions can add up to a big benefit for the environment.
If 20 percent of households (22,876,800 households) were to switch to electronic bills, statements, and payments, every year the collective impact would:1

* Save 150,939,615 pounds of paper
* Save 1,811,275 trees
* Avoid creating 1,439,601,370 gallons of wastewater
* Avoid creating enough wastewater to fill 2,180 Olympic-size swimming pools
* Avoid filling 8,597,328 household garbage bags with waste
* Avoid filling 6,141 garbage trucks with waste
* Avoid using 102,945,600 gallons of gasoline to mail bills, statements and payments
* Avoid producing 3,920,802,916 pounds (1,960,402 tons) of greenhouse gases

Saving this amount of greenhouse gas is the equivalent of:
* The emissions avoided by not driving 3,861,769,517 miles
* Taking 325,722 cars off the road
* The emissions avoided by not consuming 200 million gallons of gasoline
* Planting 45.6 million tree seedlings and allowing them to grow for 10 years
* Preserving 12,405 acres of forest from deforestation

Learn More:
Collaboration creates Prosperity: Philanthropic Travel
Exquisite Safaris Corporate Donor Philanthropic Advisory Services
Creative Capitalism: Partner with Exquisite Safaris
The High-Purpose Company: Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide
Exquisite Safaris clients say…
Travel Connoisseur Magazine on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide
US Air Magazine on Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel: Travel with a Heart
My First Philanthropic Travel Experience
The Fable of Stone Soup
Understanding Philanthropic Travel
Are We Talking about Philanthropy Yet? No, We Are Not
Travel Philanthropy: Creating Peace
Fast Company Magazine on Philanthropic Travel
PersonalLifemedia.com on Philanthropic Travel
Philanthropic Traveler funded High School opens near Victoria Falls, Zambia

Philanthropic Travelers:
The The One’s Who Do: Visionary Philanthropic Travelers
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Marc Gold 100 Friends Project
Visionary Philanthropic Traveler Chellie Kew
Milton & Fred Ochieng: Philanthropic Travelers
Jane Kaye- Bailey: Philanthropic Traveler
Richard Branson: Philanthropic Traveler
Angelina Jolie: Philanthropic Traveler
Oprah Winfrey: Philanthropic Traveler
Palm Beach Life Magazine: Philanthropic Travelers

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