Charity dating is a process of
raising money for
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* C ...
by being taken on a
date
Date or dates may refer to:
*Date (fruit), the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'')
Social activity
*Dating, a form of courtship involving social activity, with the aim of assessing a potential partner
**Group dating
* Play date, a ...
by someone who will donate money to charity for the privilege. It is common for celebrities to help charitable causes by auctioning off a paid date with themselves to a loyal audience, which sees a great value in such a date.
History
With the rise of
celebrity culture
Celebrity culture is a high-volume exposure to celebrities' personal lives on a global scale. It is inherently tied to consumer interests where celebrities transform their fame to become product brands.
Whereas a culture can usually be physically ...
many people are willing to pay large sums to meet their favorite celebrity. For example,
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...
auctioned a pair of tickets to attend the premiere of her 2009 movie ''
He's Just Not That Into You
''He's Just Not That Into You'' is a self-improvement book written by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo that was published in 2004 and later adapted into a film by the same name in 2009. It was a New York Times bestseller and was featured on ''Th ...
'', raising $40,100 for
Oxfam
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International.
History
Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford C ...
.
Formats
The most common form of celebrity date auctions is through a charity fundraising event. These events are organized by charities or other parties and usually include dinner, speakers and other entertainment.
More recently, the online auction site
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
has been used to allow a wider audience to bid for a date with a celebrity. One common auction is for the chance to attend a film premiere with the celebrity. Examples include Scarlett Johansson,
Kristin Davis
Kristin Landen Davis (also listed as Kristin Lee Davis; born February 23, 1965) is an American actress and producer. She is known for playing Charlotte York Goldenblatt in the HBO romantic comedy series ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004). She ...
, and
Colin Firth
Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...
.
In May 2009, GiveAndDate.com launched in New York City. In September 2009, ''The Chronicle of Philanthropy'' profiled how the for-profit dating site accepts donations to partnered charities when one user wants to send a message to another user.
[http://philanthropy.com/news/prospecting/9297/online-dating-site-promotes-flirting-in-the-name-of-philanthropy ]
References
Further reading
*
{{refend