Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett Combine for Innovative Nonprofit Fundraising Endeavour

Celebrities lending their popularity to the nonprofit fundraising efforts of the cause(s) they support is a growing trend. Now it seems that more and more celebrities are even launching their own charitable foundations bringing that support and commitment to another level. In this age of transparency, where the gap between celebrities and their fans has been bridged somewhat by social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, the advantage is two-fold:  1) Most importantly the charities benefit from the increased awareness the celebrity’s popularity brings which leads to increased fundraising dollars; and 2) The celebrity benefits from the association as it elevates their public image and helps build their brand while exposing their fans to a cause they identify with which improves its status at the same time.

Although Lady Gaga’s popularity doesn’t need any help from anything beyond her talent (and she was already named on the  Top Twenty Celebs Gone Good list), she too is starting a foundation for a cause that is very personal to her and her fans. Today marks the launch of the Born This Way Foundation (BTW) and the official event is taking place at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre. Guests at the launch will include The Oprah Winfrey Showand Deepak Chopra among nonprofit organizers, policy makers, foundation leaders and youth committed to the cause.

As I previously wrote, The Born This Way foundation will be run by her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, and it is a nonprofit organization that will tackle the issues that are relevant to youth today, such as “self-confidence, well-being, anti-bullying, mentoring and career development and advocacy.”

In anticipation of the launch of her foundation, Gaga started fundraising back in December 2011 by participating in an innovative fundraising scheme with legendary crooner Tony Bennett. The two artists met when they collaborated on the song “The Lady Is a Tramp” for Bennett’s recent album Duets II. The collaboration was a success on many levels.

In addition to being a legend of jazz and popular music, Bennett is also a talented painter and at the insistence of Annie Leibovitz, Tony sketched a nude portrait of Gaga during a Vanity Fair photo shoot. The sketch was auctioned online for an astounding $30,000.00 and the proceeds went to both Gaga’s BTW Foundation and Bennett’s charity Exploring the Arts (ETA).

Exploring the Arts is a nonprofit that was started by Bennett and his wife Susan in 1999. “ETA’s programs connect private funders, individual artists, and cultural institutions to Partner Schools to achieve greater equality of resources and opportunity for youth of all means and backgrounds. ETA currently serves 14 Partner Schools throughout New York City’s 5 boroughs.”

The combination of these two music giants and the uniqueness of what they produced is what sets this fundraising effort apart and opens up so many opportunities for future nonprofit fundraising collaborations to benefit charitable foundations. It’s no wonder the idea came from the concentrated creativity of Tony, Annie and Gaga.

Put your paws up and show your support for Mother Monster on the launch today of her BTW Foundation. Don’t be a drag, just be a queen.

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga – The Lady is a Tramp

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPAmDULCVrU[/youtube]