>I just can't BELIEVE that all of those "big execs" made off
>with the gift bags and not a ONE sent in money in the envelopes that were provided.

I'm sure thousands of dollars were donated via those mail-in envelopes. Probably more than Randal's $11000. The trouble is that they didn't have a way to track the mailed-in donations back to people who were at the specific charity benefit.

The charity probably receives thousands of mail-in donations every month, and the volunteers or employees who handle the incoming checks most likely were NOT trying to identify which ones came from people who were at that Apprentice event. They probably couldn't identify them if they tried, and it wouldn't be a good use of their time.

Whatever Rebecca raised for them, I'm sure it's more than $0. We'll just never know how much.

It actually would have been very easy - Write Apprentice on each of the envelopes. And then those that came in in the Apprentice envelopes could have been counted towards her total.

It would have been doable if the charity wanted to track it. But to do so would mean having to tell the charity's staff to deviate from their normal procedures and look at every envelope to note whether it came from The Apprentice, instead of doing their usual thing of opening as many envelopes as fast as possible and dumping the envelopes after the contents are removed. They aren't going to want to make their envelope-receiving process slower and more expensive just because Rebecca (with pressure from Yahoo) decided to handle the donations in that way.

It would have also been tacky (and bad PR) for Yahoo or Trump to tell the charity to look out for the Apprentice envelopes.

I am sure that they have done that with other benefits in the past. I used to work at a non-profit in the accounting department and if we had some special thing to keep track of, the mailroom sorted out the special designation envelopes. Easy as pie.

Oh sure, I'll bet people donated untold millions with those mail-in envelopes. Why did Randal bother having a silent auction, asking people for donations, etc., when he could have raised even more money by silently hiding some donation envelopes in the gift bags that they handed out to people as they left? I'm sure the busy VIP's and celebrities went through the gift bags as soon as they got home, saw the envelopes, and were grateful that they could donate money anonymously to the foundation, instead of suffering the embarrassment of giving generously to a worthy cause on national television. I'm sure no one donated extra money to Randal's cause when they got home from HIS event.

I agree.

I am not surprised that Rebecca did not raise any money for the charity. She conducted the whole affair as a tribute to “Yahoo” the corporation. Very little focus was on the charity. Therefore, no one gave any money. Can you blame them? Who would open up their wallets to give to Yahoo, which is a multibillion-dollar company?

But weren't they mostly if not all Yahoo execs? I'm sure they knew why they were there and that their money wouldn't have been going to Yahoo.

I think it's just "out of sight, out of mind" at charity events I'm sorry to say. Once they leave and go back to their lives, it doesn't occur to most people to donate after the fact.

The people at the Yahoo event were not necessarily Yahoo execs. They were VIP clients that spend millions with Yahoo yearly. While not outright soliciting, I think Rebeccas would have done much better to make the envelopes available on the way in or at a drop box or something.

I can't imagine too many of the VIP's really paying much attention to the bags and thus donation envelopes for a day or so after the event.

>But weren't they mostly if not
>all Yahoo execs? I'm
>sure they knew why they
>were there and that their
>money wouldn't have been going
>to Yahoo.
>
>I think it's just "out of
>sight, out of mind" at
>charity events I'm sorry to
>say. Once they leave
>and go back to their
>lives, it doesn't occur to
>most people to donate after
>the fact.

True. The event was so pro-Yahoo, that the true purpose for them being there was lost. Most employees go to corporate sponsored events for the free food, entertainment and break from their workday. Since there were no outright reminders and/or solicitations done for the charity, the workers did not feel the need to contribute anything. Apparently, they all acted as if the event were another corporate freebie.

That's a stretch. Yahoo was embarrassed because the Apprentice team did exactly what they asked and it resulted in $0.00 for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids foundation. Donald Trump shamed them into giving that money. The final tasks were over weeks ago and Yahoo could have given that money at any time. Why on the finale night? Shame, plain and simple.

<<The final tasks were over weeks ago and Yahoo could have given that money at any time. Why on the finale night? Shame, plain and simple.>>

If they had donated the money weeks before, they wouldn't reap any face time on national television, so it wasn't merely shame that caused them to do it.

And just how do you know they raised $.00? Do you know exactly how many people wrote a check when they got home and mailed it in the envelope provided.

This Rebecca didn't raise any money stuff is baloney. Nobody knows exact numbers but I guarantee some money was raised.

Please --- Yahoo only donated that money to look like the good guys at the end, *after* George trashed them on TV for dictating to the candidates NOT to raise money at the event, and then Trump shames them on TV in the boardroom by saying they better donate money. And lo and behold.....months later, on live TV, Yahoo finally makes a donation to cover their very unsuccessful charity event!! Rebecca didn't raise the money --- Yahoo covered her @ss after the fact. The competition was over.

I agree, I believe Yahoo is responding to the comment by Trump that they should contribute.
It would be interesting to see, however, how many people do send in those envelopes and how much money ultimately came from the event.
http://spaces.msn.com/members/CarlaPfeiffer/

>Why is everybody saying that Rebecca
>didn't raise any money?
>The Yahoo Executives were so
>impressed by her work that
>they came to The Season
>Finale to donate a huge
>sum of money to charity.
> The amount donated should
>be considered to be the
>amount of money that Rebecca
>raised.

Simple minded comment. Obviously you missed the big picture. They were EMBARRASSED! Who throws a charity event but doesn't ask for money? They were shamed into doing something. The Yahoo! executives looked stupid!

Assuming I accept your argument.

Rebecca raised $0 the night of her event and Yahoo gave her $50,000 after the fact.

Randall raised $11,000 the night of her even and Yahoo gave him $50,000 after the fact also.

The score is still $61,000 to $50,000 and Randall still wins the Final Task.

That's right , you're fired..get out already

The argument is never a question of who has raised more money. The argument is that Rebecca did not rasied $0.

Rebecca did a great job at the event, which is one of the reason why Yahoo has to make a donation at the end. As other posters have mentioned, shame and guilt are other reasons, but the bottom line is that she still raised money for the charity.

Rebecca did a great job of providing Yahoo! employees with entertainment and a Yahoo! themed party/pep-rally. The event was not supposed to be a corporate fluff your tailfeathers event.

Her task was the "Yahoo! All-Star Comedy Benefit for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation". In my opinion benefit implies that the event is specifically designed for the charity and the money is raised at the event, not months later (for whatever reason)!

Nothing Rebecca did raised one cent for pediatric AIDS. It was the embarrassing comments by George and Trump that made Yahoo! make the donation. And even using your completely flawed logic, Randal still kicked her arse because when all is said and done he got $61,000 for his charity. Hmmmm, that would still have him with $11,000 more than Rebecca.

Guess Randal still wins! So sorry!

I'm such a slut for the blues.

Hmmm... not so fast there, lets do the math again.

Rebecca raised $50,000 for her charity
Rebecca raised $50,000 for HIS charity
Randal raised $11,000 for his charity

Rebecca not only raised $50K for her own, she also raised $50K for his as well.

She not only beat him by raising $50K against his $11K

She also beat him at his own chgarity and she wasn't even there.

He raised $11K for his and she also raised $50K for his.

Even without the comments from Trump and George, Yahoo would have donated the money anyway because Rebecca did such a wonderful job and followed instructions.

It would not surprise me that when all of the donations that come back will also total much more than Randal's.

He embarresed Trump in front of national Television and he also embarressed himself and the black race as well.

Imagine when he is side by side by Trump and onlookers look at him with disscust and look at Trump as if he is an idiot for hiring him. Do you think people are going to trust a man of that character with their money?

I would be willing to bet that trump is regreating this decision and it would be in his best interest to find a way to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

>is said and done he
>got $61,000 for his charity.
> Hmmmm, that would still
>have him with $11,000 more
>than Rebecca.
>
>Guess Randal still wins! So
>sorry!
>
>
>I'm such a slut for the
>blues.

Okay, I am missing something. Could you please explain how it is seen that she raised the money for his charity, when Yahoo was the one giving the money out of shame? Them giving it out of shame, to save face, does not count as her raising the money, no matter how you look at it. They were trying to save face, because they looked so bad not being able to donate money to pediatric aids. Still leaves her with $0 raised on her own, by her own good work. She failed, and the gave the charity money anyway. That is not her raising the money.

>>Rebecca did a great job at
>the event, which is one
>of the reason why Yahoo
>has to make a donation
>at the end.

Actually, it was a CHARITY event....to raise money for CHARITY. Yes, Rebecca did a great job, as Carolyn stated, in underscoring YAHOO complete with "Yahoo-tinis", purple ice, purple gift bags, etc; BUT the FOCUS was on the CHARITY.
Yahoo made a PUBLIC donation for the attention, for the "Look at US, WE donated $$$" accolades, and finally to save face for rebuking the idea of asking for money (Heaven forbid!) at a charity event!

As of yet, as far as I know, the total sum of funds raised from mailed in donations is still in question...so in answer to the original post/subject line: We really do NOT know if Rebecca "raised A LOT of money".

What was hilarious was George getting toasted by the Yahoo comedians... and was that his wife? cMon George... take some tips from the Trumpster.
It was almost like it was preplanned by the yuk yukkers.
You know he was a bit annoyed although he laughed along.

Rebecca did not raise squat. I am sure they spent $50,000 on the party intending to raise money from rich folks, so for Yahoo it was a double loss.

You don't seriously think that all of those execs went to that charity event, went home and threw those envelopes away? I was expecting to hear the total of the mailed donations last night in the live version. We will hear the total soon - it was announced in another thread that the charity will be announcing the total mailed in.

< You don't seriously think that all of those execs went to that charity event, went home and threw those envelopes away? I was expecting to hear the total of the mailed donations last night in the live version. We will hear the total soon - it was announced in another thread that the charity will be announcing the total mailed in. >

I'm glad to hear that they're going to announce her total. I kept screaming at the TV "What about those envelopes?"

The problem for this contest was that her strategy wasn't about instant gratification. Which this show seems to be focusing on.

LAST EDITED ON 12-16-05 AT 10:26 PM (EST)

DT - demanded Yahoo make a solid donation. It was not a refection on Rebecca. Also any money donated by those VIPs is now tainted because of the controvercy surrounding it. That is why contests have a time limit. They can not go forever. The idea was to give them an envelope to give money before they leave. Anyone who does fund raisers know that the time to get the money is Now.

Who would not be impressed when you are the one getting all of the attention. Everything Yahoo wanted they got. She ignored the AIDs Foundation. What kind of integrity is that. Because she wanted to win she ignored the fact that she had a responsibility to the AIDs foundation.

I see your point, and I agree that under normal circumstances (read a real charity event) the envelopes would have, minimally, been passed out at the beginning (or at least made available througout with reminders of their availability).

But, in reality, this was not an AIDS foundation benefit. Yes, that's what it was touted to be. It's what it should have been. But it was a Yahoo! event. Rebecca was hired by Yahoo!. Yahoo! paid for everything there. Yahoo! compiled the invitation list. And, that makes Yahoo!, not the AIDS foundation, Rebecca's client.

The mistake of not actually fund raising at the event was a Yahoo! mistake, imo. As they said they'd never done such an event before, Rebecca did have the responsibility of at least addressing it. But, I think she and her team did try to address it, and were shut down by the Yahoo! execs. more than once. Perhaps they will learn from the experience and, if they ever do another, they will allow their event coordinator to do it correctly.

Bad Wolf! by PM