Frequently Asked Questions
1. CPEF is a new organization - was it established specifically for 'Idol Gives Back 2007'?
Charity Projects Entertainment Fund is the realization of an idea that has been under discussion for several years. CPEF's mission is to drive positive change through the power of entertainment and the unique opportunity presented by the partnership with American Idol 2007 gave impetus to the formal creation of CPEF as a registered 501(c)3 charity.
2. Where can I find information on CPEF beyond the organization's website?
Charity Projects Entertainment Fund is a new non-profit organization established in December 2006. Its aims are to raise money and awareness to benefit children and young people in extreme poverty in the U.S. and throughout the world, particularly in Africa. 'Idol Gives Back' in 2007 was its first fundraising campaign, so financial reports will be available later this year.
3. What percentage of viewer donations will go to the beneficiaries?
The CPEF Board can confirm that all monies received from viewers online and telephone donations will go directly to the beneficiaries to help some of the most vulnerable and poor people in America and Africa. One of our key values is deliver our work for maximum effect and minimum costs. We therefore aim to keep our costs and expenses as low as possible, to maximize the money going to our beneficiaries.
4. How much money will be spent on administration costs?
Whilst CPEF is committed to keeping running costs to a minimum, it does, like any professional organization, have some administration and overhead costs. However, these will be covered by a combination of philanthropic donations; corporate support and interest received, and will not be taken from viewer donations.
5. How did CPEF select the charities that will benefit from the funds raised?
Key members of the Board of CPEF have many years experience of spending money in Africa and the five international organizations for this first event have been chosen based on this experience. CPEF is working with a respected independent consultant to help identify the most suitable US charities and to carry out due diligence on them. For 'Idol Gives Back' in 2007, organizations were pre-screened against a set of criteria.
A long list of organizations was vetted against these criteria using publicly available information, interviews with industry experts, press searches, and targeted conversations with the organizations themselves. The final list of organizations was approved by key stake-holders, including representatives from CPEF, Fox, Fremantle, and 19.
6. Who will oversee the allocation of funds to the various charities? How will that process work?
The CPEF Board of Directors oversees the allocation of funds to the charities. The Board agree how the money raised was to be allocated among the nominated charities. The nominated charities will be asked to present program proposals under the banner of children and young people living in extreme poverty and their funds are distributed on an annual basis subject to satisfactory reports.
7. Are American Idol and CPEF only working with the charities named in the press release? Will other organizations or charities be able to get involved?
The CPEF Board chose the charities who benefited from 'Idol Gives Back 07'. However, for future initiatives become an annual event, the chosen beneficiaries will be subject to review and other organizations and charities will have an opportunity to be involved.
8. Why will half of the money raised by 'Idol Gives Back 07' be spent on helping people in Africa?
The world's poorest 20 countries are in Africa and every 3 seconds a child dies of hunger and preventable diseases - that's over 30,000 a day. While we live with statistics like this, organizations like CPEF will always have a job to do. CPEF is seriously committed to bringing an end to poverty and social injustice and hopes that funds raised will help people in America and some of the poorest countries in the world make long-term changes to their lives.
9. Whose idea was it to combine a charity appeal with an entertainment program?
CPEF was established through Richard Curtis' and Simon Fuller's shared passion for tackling the problems of extreme poverty in the United States and throughout the world. CPEF is supported by the people behind UK Red Nose Day, Live 8 and ONE who embraced a unique opportunity to work with American Idol to bring the issue of extreme poverty in America and Africa - not only the intensity of it, but also solutions and optimism - into the hearts, minds and homes of millions of Americans. CPEF hopes to use the power of entertainment to help communicate serious messages and raise money for vulnerable people.
10. I’d like to find out about adopting children who were featured in one of the appeal films.
The children featured in 'Idol Gives Back' in 2007 are already being helped by a local project in Africa. There are many other children who need your help that haven't been featured in our films on ‘‘Idol Gives Back 07’’ and money we raise will be able to help many more children like the ones in these films. If you are still interested in sponsoring a child, Save The Children US have a child sponsorship scheme and are also one of the beneficiaries of the ‘Idol Gives Back 07’ program.
'Idol Gives Back' / CPEF cannot respond to individual enquiries regarding adoption but can assure viewers that the children in the appeal films are being cared for at a project which will continue to receive further funding from the US.
Is there a chance that I might have been charged more than once?
Because of massive viewer response, IDOL GIVES BACK 07 triggered a tremendous number of credit card transactions in a very brief period, which meant that instead of being able to process and bank donations in real time, information had to be gathered and then processed after the event. As part of this process, a small percentage of donations were, unfortunately, presented for processing more than once. This is being rectified directly with the bank as a matter of urgency and all unintended duplicate donations will be refunded in full. Viewers who feel there may have been an error with their donations should email [email protected] or call 1-800-295-1752."
Last Modified: January 2008