Donor Tom Siebel Fights Meth Abuse in Montana
The most recent issue of Fast Company has a great article about mega-donor Tom Siebel's attempts to single-handedly curb the use of methamphetamine by Montana teens.
In addition to this video, his Meth Project has paid some of the world's best directors to develop horrific ads convincing kids that even once is too many times to try meth. He's also paid millions to saturate the airwaves with these ads in prime time. Just watched all four on Fast Company's site and I'm feeling a little sick to my stomach.
The article raised a number of questions about whether or not these programs can be proven to be successful. But as the article suggests, lots of luck developing an experimental research methodology that controls for all variables present in ten of thousands of kids decisions to experiment with drugs. I've long felt that causality is over-rated. Watch the ads. Think with your gut. Sometimes that's the most important thing you can do to be a strategic philanthropist.
Posted at 2:33 PM, May 02, 2009 in Accountability | Cross-Sectoral Strategies | Health | Performance Measurement | Philanthropic Strategy | Youth | Permalink