I don't know about other countries but the UK has a long tradition of public fund raising for good causes. This Friday, March 13th will be Red Nose Day. It's a day when the television is turned over to the British people and folk from show business in a bid to raise as much money as possible for worthy causes.
People from all walks of life do whacky things to raise money. The RND people are particularly keen to involve schools. Apart from the fun stuff, it is a great way to show are young people the value they can bring to those less fortunate. It's also a darned good way of fostering community.
Much of the money ends up going to help disadvantaged people in both the UK and Africa. Examples include refugees and asylum seekers, people living in urban slums and those seeking refuge from domestic violence.
One event this year has truly caught the imagination of the British people: the BT Red Nose Climb of Mount Kilimanjaro (http://www.rednoseday.com/climb). They targeted to raise £1 million towards the total but as I write this, they've raised a staggering £1,556,630.
An interesting tech twist to this story comes from the Digital Red Nose site. There, for the princely sun of £1, you can buy a digital nose (choice of three types) to put on an image you upload from your computer. It's an opportunity to not only be a tad creative but also give to a charity that over the years has helped countless thousands of people.
Our old friend James Governor of RedMonk and Chris Dalby of Yellowpark have devised a site where, if you follow @rednosin on Twitter, your pic appears on a digital wall. As you might imagine, some of us are pimping the heck out of this, using our social networks to spread the word. (http://rednosin.chinposin.com/)
What's interesting is that people from outside the UK are joining in the fun, turning it into something of an international event.
As I said on Twitter - if RyanAir can moot the idea of charging £1 for in-flight use of it toilets, then surely donating £1 to a worthy cause should be a no brainer.
SAP and its contributors have a great tradition of fund raising so why not give this worthy cause a look. You've nothing to lose and who knows, it might put a smile on your face.
More to the point - does your country have anything similar? If not then all the more reason to join the fun.
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