Apple opens iTunes donations for Hurricane Harvey relief

Posted:
in General Discussion edited August 2017
After Hurricane Harvey slammed into Texas on Friday, and continues to roll over the Gulf Coast as a tropical storm, Apple this weekend reactivated iTunes donations to support American Red Cross relief efforts in the area.




As its has done in the past, Apple on Saturday posted prominent American Red Cross links to its official website and iTunes Store landing page, this time calling on consumers to assist those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. A dedicated website allows users to quickly contribute $5, $10, $25, $50, $100 or $200 toward ongoing relief efforts.

The company routinely facilitates donations for natural disasters through its digital storefront.

Customers who donate through iTunes will see 100 percent of proceeds go directly to Red Cross. The organization is unable to further acknowledge donations as Apple does not share personal user information with outside entities.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who was in Austin on Friday to promote an expansion of the company's "App Development with Swift" program, tweeted a message of support to followers in Texas. He later tweeted out a link to Apple's donation webpage.

"Prayers for Texas and all those affected by #HurricaneHarvey. Join us in the relief effort by donating: http://apple.co/2xmVm50," he said

Harvey made landfall on Friday as a powerful Category 4 hurricane near the town of Rockport, Tex., reports CNN. At least two deaths have been reported, along with massive damage to houses, businesses and other buildings across large swaths of the state.

On Saturday, Harvey subsided to a tropical storm, though residents now face flooding from continued downpours and sea water pushed ashore during the maelstrom's early stages.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    I wish they'd use someone else other than the RedCross....
    retrogusto
  • Reply 2 of 20
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    macxpress said:
    I wish they'd use someone else other than the RedCross....
    Red Crescent, maybe?  :p


    Avieshek
  • Reply 3 of 20
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    macxpress said:
    I wish they'd use someone else other than the RedCross....
    What's up with the Red Cross?

    pscooter63
  • Reply 4 of 20
    Apple should donate instead of just opening a donation app... they got more money sitting on the banks then the US coverment.
    Avieshektechprod1gy
  • Reply 5 of 20
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Rayz2016 said:
    macxpress said:
    I wish they'd use someone else other than the RedCross....
    What's up with the Red Cross?

    They're not exactly the greatest organization in the world like everyone seems to make them out to be. I'd rather Apple just start their own fund and donate on our behalf...maybe they could match what everyone else puts into the pot. Its not like Apple doesn't have the money. Millions of dollars in revenue came from that very area over the years. 
    retrogusto
  • Reply 6 of 20
    AvieshekAvieshek Posts: 100member
    macxpress said:
    I wish they'd use someone else other than the RedCross....
    Apple is sensitive about names. It has to be cool. Like this:
    Red Crescent, maybe?  :p



    edited August 2017
  • Reply 7 of 20
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    macxpress said:
    Rayz2016 said:
    macxpress said:
    I wish they'd use someone else other than the RedCross....
    What's up with the Red Cross?

    They're not exactly the greatest organization in the world like everyone seems to make them out to be. I'd rather Apple just start their own fund and donate on our behalf...maybe they could match what everyone else puts into the pot. Its not like Apple doesn't have the money. Millions of dollars in revenue came from that very area over the years. 
    1) After the money gets into the Apple fund what happens to it? One solution is sending it to the Red Cross, which is what they do now without setting up a separate holding company in their name for donations. The only way I see Apple affecting this is if they also manage how the funds are used. Maybe they can bring their expertise to bring about efficiencies others can't or maybe it's too far out of their wheelhouse.

    2) I like the idea of them matching donations. I wonder how the average stockholder would feel about that. I've never donated through iTunes but if Apple was matching amounts I'd definitely be inclined to go through them.
  • Reply 8 of 20
    big kcbig kc Posts: 141member
    My wife is a Red Cross volunteer. It's a fantastic organization with a bunch of really dedicated people. What the hell is the accusation above all about? If you're going to besmirch the name of this organization, please be specific with your grievances. Apple is trying to help and you drop a turd like this? SMH
    Solisingularitypscooter63fastasleepanantksundarammacky the macky
  • Reply 9 of 20
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    big kc said:
    My wife is a Red Cross volunteer. It's a fantastic organization with a bunch of really dedicated people. What the hell is the accusation above all about? If you're going to besmirch the name of this organization, please be specific with your grievances. Apple is trying to help and you drop a turd like this? SMH
    It looks pretty good to me. I'm not seeing any emergency relief charities on the applicable Top 10 lists that would help for hurricane disaster relief.

    fastasleep
  • Reply 10 of 20
    big kc said:
    My wife is a Red Cross volunteer. It's a fantastic organization with a bunch of really dedicated people. What the hell is the accusation above all about? If you're going to besmirch the name of this organization, please be specific with your grievances. Apple is trying to help and you drop a turd like this? SMH
    This might help. It's one of many:

    http://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482020436/senators-report-finds-fundamental-concerns-about-red-cross-finances

    PS. Techie boyz do not help anyone because they are self-described "libertarians," so the likelihood of the original poster or subsequent ones to actually donate something is very, very low.
  • Reply 11 of 20
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,623member
    I think Apple donates to charities or at least does so through employee donation matching schemes.

    I think whatever an employee donates, Apple will match it and I think the upper limit is quite high ($10,000 per employee/year?). If Apple higher management were to donate healthy sums, it would quickly be doubled. 


  • Reply 12 of 20
    pscooter63pscooter63 Posts: 1,080member
    big kc said:
    My wife is a Red Cross volunteer. It's a fantastic organization with a bunch of really dedicated people. What the hell is the accusation above all about? If you're going to besmirch the name of this organization, please be specific with your grievances. Apple is trying to help and you drop a turd like this? SMH
    This might help. It's one of many:

    http://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482020436/senators-report-finds-fundamental-concerns-about-red-cross-finances

    PS. Techie boyz do not help anyone because they are self-described "libertarians," so the likelihood of the original poster or subsequent ones to actually donate something is very, very low.
    Senator's report, eh?  Hm.

    Got any practical suggestions for an alternative organization that does what RC does? 'Cause I sure haven't seen anything constructive mentioned yet.
  • Reply 13 of 20
    frontix said:
    Apple should donate instead of just opening a donation app... they got more money sitting on the banks then the US coverment.
    Yeah, I think they should just let the coverment cover it...yeah...
  • Reply 14 of 20
    big kc said:
    My wife is a Red Cross volunteer. It's a fantastic organization with a bunch of really dedicated people. What the hell is the accusation above all about? If you're going to besmirch the name of this organization, please be specific with your grievances. Apple is trying to help and you drop a turd like this? SMH
    This might help. It's one of many:

    http://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482020436/senators-report-finds-fundamental-concerns-about-red-cross-finances

    PS. Techie boyz do not help anyone because they are self-described "libertarians," so the likelihood of the original poster or subsequent ones to actually donate something is very, very low.
    That's anecodatal evidence based on a particular event and given the source, subject to political bias.   How about the Charity Navigator rating:

    https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3277

    And your PS is a sweeping generalization.  Given "techie" companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, etc., I'd say they lean politically liberal more than libertarian or conservative.  Even if they were all libertarians, why suggest they're non-charitable?  Most would believe in voluntary charity vice government 'charity'.  

    Soli
  • Reply 15 of 20
    big kc said:
    My wife is a Red Cross volunteer. It's a fantastic organization with a bunch of really dedicated people. What the hell is the accusation above all about? If you're going to besmirch the name of this organization, please be specific with your grievances. Apple is trying to help and you drop a turd like this? SMH
    This might help. It's one of many:

    http://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482020436/senators-report-finds-fundamental-concerns-about-red-cross-finances

    PS. Techie boyz do not help anyone because they are self-described "libertarians," so the likelihood of the original poster or subsequent ones to actually donate something is very, very low.
    Senator's report, eh?  Hm.

    Got any practical suggestions for an alternative organization that does what RC does? 'Cause I sure haven't seen anything constructive mentioned yet.
    Agreed. The Senate also had "fundaramental concerns" about Apple's finances. Big whoop. 

    Just a set of smears from an overpaid, underworked bunch of useless windbags. 
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 16 of 20
    joogabahjoogabah Posts: 139member
    Rayz2016 said:
    macxpress said:
    I wish they'd use someone else other than the RedCross....
    What's up with the Red Cross?

    Scandals. 
  • Reply 17 of 20
    If you want your money to go to the people that need the help and not to a inefficient bureaucracy,   I highly recommend Samaritanspurse.org


    https://www.samaritanspurse.org/disaster/hurricane-harvey/
  • Reply 18 of 20
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,109member
    After September 11th in New York, I was working with an ad-hoc group of volunteers to collect and deliver supplies to the workers on the site. A number of people left Red Cross to come work with us, saying that we were more organized and effective. This surprised me at the time, but then more recently I saw Red Cross do a surprisingly poor job here with Hurricane Sandy--really illogical decisions. So I eventually did some Google research and discovered that my impressions were widely held, and the woman currently running it came from a background of sales and marketing rather than anything related to disaster relief, which made sense given that a lot of what they do seems to be about appearances rather than actually getting things done. The way she talked about her pride in working for such a great "brand" was kind of sickening. But hopefully they have moved on and improved in the last few years, and I'm sure they have lots of good people working for them regardless. I would still feel better giving money to someone else. 
    edited August 2017
  • Reply 19 of 20
    jSnivelyjSnively Posts: 429administrator
    To avoid the stupid arguments and  baseless hearsay: 
    https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3277

    They aren't the best at properly distributing the donations they receive, but better than most and a solid  default in a pinch if you want to help out. They are an extremely transparent organization at the very least. I'm closing this thread before it gets stupid. 
    singularity
This discussion has been closed.