I saw this the other day on the sidebar of my Facebook page and something struck me a little off. I love Starbucks and I love it when corporations get behind these major causes but I can’t help but think how much of a greater impact could be made if the 248,042 folks who have already said they will buy a “hand-crafted beverage” at Starbucks on Monday donated the full-price of that beverage to help save lives in Africa.
I did some basic math and if 300,000 folks buy a drink on Monday, the Global Fund gets $15,000…Starbucks gets significantly more! Now if Starbucks were to encourage folks to give up their daily “hand-crafted drink” this Monday for World AIDS Day and donate the money to an organization working in Africa, the total would be close to a $1 million dollars!
Hmmmm…what do you think?
The ABBA Fund Blog 
i think i need to think more about where i put my nickels.
I was thinking along those same lines. First of all, $0.05 per beverage really isn’t that big of a donation considering how much a latte costs. Secondly, if Starbucks were to buy and brew all fair trade coffee and encourage other businesses to as well, Africa would be on their way to being self sustaining. Just a thought….
5 cents out of every drink seems like a really, really small amount for them to give. Hhmmmm.
Nicely done.
That would be amazing if Starbucks did that.
Right now Starbucks is selling an image by using (RED) to make customers feel that much better about buying their product and with your math its not that expensive of an image to sell in relation to Starbucks size.
To be honest I’m a bit skeptical of the (RED) campaign altogether. How much money is really being donated to the charities to better peoples lives and how much money is being spent on advertising for (RED) itself? It just seems like we could help people more if we just consumed less and donated directly rather than buying things that donate a portion of the proceeds, but does society need something like (RED) to motivate it to donate?
I don’t claim to know much about the RED campaign, and I do think it would be amazing for everyone who buys a “hand-crafted beverage” to instead give that money to the cause, but I think it’s a pretty (sad to say) unrealistic expectation for most people. BUT, they will buy the drink that donates 5 cents, and I think that could add up to a lot more than $15,000 considering the number of people who visit a Starbucks on a Monday. I plan to go because I want to make it worth Starbucks’ while so they’ll do it again. It’s not really a sacrifice for anyone, which is unfortunate, but the AIDS campaign still benefits significantly.
WOW! So true.
You posted what I’ve been thinking. Thanks for saving me the time. I’ll just go to bed now! Stop Spending and start giving! WE HAVE ENOUGH!!! I agree.
I think (sadly) Emily hits the nail on the head. Will most Starbucks patrons directly give to the Global Fund? Probably not. But the decision/offer by Starbucks made her decide to buy a coffee there this morning. At the end of the day, I think that’s the general gist of the Starbucks partnership. Is 5 cents “a lot”? Not really, but the nickels will add up over the life of the partnership (multiple years according to the press release).
I am a staunch Starbucks supporter simply because they carry a good product and treat their employess quite well. I also believe that as a for-profit company, the mere fact that they are willing to donate anything to World AIDS Day speaks volumes.
Read the fine print though, you have to buy one of 3 or 4 very specific drinks, which for someone like me who drinks a sugar free vanilla soy latte and doesn’t want a Gingerbread latte or whatever the choices are, doesn’t work so well…
What if they put out a collection jar and send everything they collected to the fund, I bet they’d get a lot more than 5 cents a customer!
Since this event has come and gone I wonder if Starbucks plans on publicizing how much was donated. I always question a corporation’s motive for such an event and wonder if it is merely a tool to boost sales. I know I probably shouldn’t think that way because if they donate then they donate, and anything more than nothing is a good thing and God will take care of the motive part.
I remember when I worked at a pizza place when I was in high school I think it only cost like 20 cents to make a large supreme pizza. You can see the profit! I wonder what the cost is to make a Gingerbread Latte? 5 cents seems minimal but then I guess it’s more than nothing.
I agree with you Jason, donating directly would generate more money but unfortunantly I don’t think most people would take it upon themselves to donate on their own. Specially without getting something in return like a coffee they planned on purchasing anyhow.