The Fine Line Between Charity and Self-Promotion

The Fine Line Between Charity and Self-Promotion: "The Fine Line Between Charity and Self-Promotion
By Evan Schuman, Ziff Davis Internet
September 12, 2005

Opinion: A Florida authentication company is offering its service for free to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. Is this generosity or taking advantage of a tragedy to get free publicity? It's often impossible to tell. (CIOInsight.com)


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The most altruistic gift is an anonymous contribution, in which a giver wants to help but does not want to benefit from the donation.

Sometimes, though, anonymity is not possible, and that's where things can get dicey.

Last week, for example, a Fort Lauderdale authentication firm announced that it was offering its service free to anyone who wanted to use it to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Why would an authentication service help out in flood recovery? A lot of the victims had to flee their homes and they lost identification documents (birth certificates, passports, marriage certificates, Visas, etc.)."