Return to Transcripts main page

Your Money

Holiday Special: Mind over Money

Aired December 23, 2006 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Now in the news. Crunch time for holiday travelers. Millions of Americans on the go this weekend. The nation's highways, railroads and the skies are packed. And the weather is causing some holiday headaches. AAA says about 65 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the holiday season.
In Jerusalem the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Omert and Palestian President Mahmoud Abbas meeting face-to-face, their talks taking place right now. It is the first time the two men have met since both taking office.

And Iran now facing U.N. sanctions over its nuclear programs. The Security Council approved that action just a short time ago. The White House applauding the resolution, however, the state department said it doesn't think this resolution is enough in itself. The U.S. wants the international community to do more including freezing international loans to Iran. The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of carrying out a secret nuclear weapons program. The charge denied by Iran.

Another news update at the bottom of the hour. Now time for IN THE MONEY.

JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, "HEADLINE NEWS" CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to a special holiday edition of IN THE MONEY mind over money. I'm Jennifer Westhoven coming up on today's program, cool aid; some of the biggest names in business are making philanthropy chic.

And on this holiday weekend we will check the state of giving in America.

Plus hands off, we'll hear from economists who think that foreign aide isn't a good use of your donor dollars.

And class act, see how one of Apple's co-founders took an interest for helping back to school.

Joining me today Ali Velshi for our special holiday edition. Where we are focusing on philanthropy.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What a big business story in 2006. The idea of philanthropy, Gates and Buffet and Bono, but one of the things that has come out of 2006 and 2005 after Katrina is that philanthropy is starting to be thought of as a good business decision and not just that a decision that business seems to be able to execute better than government can. So it's not really about donations, it's about creativity lending your name, your brand, it really has I think we go into 2007 with the idea that philanthropy is a big brand.

WESTHOVEN: I think it's amazing too how people who have been renowned for genius in the business world and here we're talking about Buffet and Gates are taking that smarts and putting it to something that we also do great for the world.

VELSHI: But as you know Buffet and Gates are the ones we hear about but there are so many others that have been doing this. I mean there is a culture in Corporate America of taking your skills and your expertise and your no-how and your contacts and applying it to the world that needs help. We're going to talk a bit about that today.

For some of America's richest people making money is easy. Figuring out what to do with it is the hard part. But a new generation of philanthropists is taking that challenge on and bringing the innovations that they brought to the business world to the nonprofit world. It's a small world when it comes to big money philanthropy. Warren Buffet's gift to the bill in Melinda Gates Foundation created a $50 billion behemoth. Today the world's richest men have created the world's biggest foundation and as you would expect from Bill Gates he is running his charity like his company. Focused on results and accountability and its core missions of global poverty and education.

The Gates Foundation tactics maybe new but the concept has been around for 100 years. At the start of the 20th century, Steel Barren Andrew Carnegie was the world's richest man. In 1911 he decided to give away the bulk of his fortune founding the Carnegie Corporation with $125 million. Today's philanthropists see themselves as Wall Street investors and they are demanding strong returns from their investments as they bring the skills of the business world to the nonprofit world.

STEVE GRUNDERSON, CEO, COUNCIL ON FOUNDATIONS: The new generation of philanthropists I think is different in two ways, both in process and product. They very much are different in process in that they are looking for those ways in which you can very effectively combine technology, the marketplace et cetera and try to achieve an outcome.

VELSHI: Venture philanthropy of the non-profit world's way of creating business relationships. Groups such as the Acumen Fund don't give money away, instead they found start-up companies dedicated to improving health or clean water and expect them to become sustainable. These companies can then repay their start-up costs allowing new companies to get funding. Innovative thinking and accountability may be driving the new players but the old foundations say that some results are hard to measure and there is still a place for them next to the new players.

VARTAN GREGORIAN, PRES. CARNEGIE CORPORATION: Without the American philanthropy most of the culture organizations, ballet and opera, all of them will be either bankrupt or will be -- have to mount operation. Foundations are taken care of. So suppose I'm giving to opera. I bring a singer here to sing. How do you measure the results? He came and sang. VELSHI: Citi Group chairman bridges the old and new worlds of philanthropy. He has donated more than half a billion dollars over 25 years, by his reckoning he has even racked up a record. Wild's 70th birthday celebration in Carnegie bought in $60 million for music education. That is the most raised in a single evening for a charitable cause. Sandy Weill has a new book out it is called "The Real Deal, My Life in Business and Philanthropy." He joins us now, Sandy Wild good to have you here. Thank you for being with us.

SANDY WEILL, AUTHOR, "THE REAL DEAL, MY LIVE IN BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPY:" Good to be here, thank you.

VELSHI: One of the things you say is that you know people have been giving money away for a long time but you have to think creatively about your time and energy and that's where the new thrust is going to be. It's to some degree what you've been doing. It's money but it is also your expertise as Jennifer was talking about earlier.

WEILL: Well philanthropy is not just money. It's taking somebody's passion, a person's energy, their ability, their intellect and getting them to contribute that to philanthropic course, to make the community a better place. I think it's important to start with young people that really don't necessarily have the money yet, but to get them involved in thinking that way and letting them think that's part of their career.

I think also important, the people that are the busiest are the ones you want to get involved in doing more things because they are the ones with the most creativity.

WESTHOVEN: You actually talk about the fact that it's not just giving money, it's starting to hook a lot of different people into these kinds of organizations, to get them working for places like Carnegie Hall. I wonder in addition to you bringing money, energy, work, what do you think would your legacy be at these kinds of institutions?

WEILL: I hope my legacy is yet to really happen and that I'm lucky enough to have the time to work in the fields of education and the arts and in health care, to really try and contribute to making this world a better place. I think what you talked before about Gates and Buffet, I think it's very important that American business leaders and American people set an example and we recognize that it is not just governments that we should rely on but the brain power that is created this great country of ours can also be used to help the social institutions make them better places. That's what we can be as an example to other countries.

VELSHI: The Business Roundtable, a group you well know, CEOs from across the country, has a particular disaster relief effort where different companies can take their expertise and help out if there is a disaster both here in the United States or overseas. Citi Group was very involved in the helping out of the earthquake victims in Pakistan.

WEILL: Right. VELSHI: Why is it that the business community has taken on this role but has traditionally been thought of as a government role, governments helping other governments when there is a crisis?

WEILL: Well I think that public/private partnerships is something that has worked in the state and local area, but the federal government never really did it and I guess when the Pakistan earthquake happened, Bush came to me and four other business leaders and said that we're going to contribute $500 million to the victims of the Pakistani earthquake. We would like the business community to see if they can raise $100 million of that, 20 percent of it. And we did that.

I think the real important thing is that the Pakistani people understand that American people really care about them, that it's not just our government and it's not just politics. But there is a big population of American people that are really their friend and that is very important.

WESTHOVEN: When you're trying to coordinate an enormous effort like that, you're someone who is known in your business history for putting together deals and they get bigger and bigger. How do you find that those kinds of skills that you used in the business world, you know, is it the same atmosphere in the philanthropic world? The culture is a little different. How do you put together deals and get people working over there?

WEILL: I think it's very important that you -- when you start working on something that you're working with somebody in the area that is really good, whether it's in music or in health care or education. And that you can contribute so much of what you learn in your business life in thinking about an organization going global, in helping other parts of the world, thinking the importance of our world coming together. I think you just use all of what you learn and it's transferable. And it's partnerships. So it's bringing what the businessperson has with the person that's an expert in music or what have you.

VELSHI: You know, one of the things I heard in the last year is with Buffet and Gates and these big names involved, and you're no slouch yourself with the amount of money that you donated. Some people have said you know these guys drown out the little people who give all the time. Now, I feel that the tide raises all boats and it's become sexy topic philanthropy.

WEILL: I think it's terrific what Gates did and that he and his wife did it at a very young age. It's a great example to other people. I think you're going to see philanthropy expand a lot in the United States and I think you're going to see foreign countries adopting some of the same things that we do here and not just relying on their government for help.

So, and it can be small people because as I said before, philanthropy is not just money but it's the passion to make something better and the passion to help make this world a better place.

VELSHI: Sandy Weill good to have you here, thank you so much for being with us. Congratulations on your continued effort.

WEILL: Thank you very much.

VELSHI: We're going to take a break. When we come back, continental divide. The money America gives to help the developing world may not be as effective as you think. We will hear from an author about the problems with the aid business.

Plus better business, find out how Bono got into charity work and see how easy it is for a company to do the same thing.

And later, was 2.0, we'll tell you about Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak and his journey from the computer business to education philanthropy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WESTHOVEN: Over the last 50 years programs from the western world have spent more than $2.3 trillion on foreign aid. Our next guest says the political obsession with curing problems in poor countries is often worse than the disease. Bill Easterly is a former World Bank economist; he is a current NYU professor and is the author of the book "White Man's Burden, Why the West Efforts and the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good."

Welcome to the program, thank you for joining us. That is certainly a provocative title. "White Man's Burden" what kind of passions were you hoping to stir up with that?

BILL EASTERLY, AUTHOR, "WHITE MAN'S BURDEN:" Above all I'm aiming to stir up passion and maybe even some anger about the scandal that so little of this aid money reaches the world's poor.

VELSHI: Bill, you know, in your book that we think that aid has to go through governments or these large institutions, these aid organizations, but in fact, what we were just talking about with Sandy Weill, is that so much of it now goes through private organizations, private institutions. People who are entrepreneurial in their approach. That should help your thesis, shouldn't it?

EASTERLY: I think it will. The great economist Milton Freedman who passed away had a great line; you always have better incentives when you spend your own money than when you spend someone else's. Agencies are spending someone else's money. Maybe these private philanthropists can do a lot more good.

WESTHOVEN: If the money isn't going to poor people that we are giving to, where is it going? Can you give us examples of where things really have gone wrong?

EASTERLY: For example, all the money that went to aid last year in Africa, the total budget for Africa was $25 billion in foreign aid, to increase to $50 billion to Africa. And yet we still had one million people die from malaria for lack of 12-cent medicine. That's all it would cost to save a life is a 12-cent dose of medicine. Somehow the money is not translating into results on the ground. It disappears into government bureaucracies, sometimes into outright corruption, it's also absorbed by very ineffective aid agency bureaucracies like the World Bank and US AID and the British Aid Agency, all of these national aid agencies are huge bureaucracies that are just sort of money sinks, that are not delivering the goods to the poor.

VELSHI: Bill, there is a great deal of knowledge and experience in the aid world, however. You're not suggesting we throw the baby out with the bath water.

EASTERLY: No.

VELSHI: We do have to continue to donate. There is a role for the developed world, to aid the developing world. How do you suggest we do it better?

EASTERLY: I think we need sort of a coming age of accountability where we hold the aid agencies responsible for actually getting results in the field. Up till now they really have been just grading themselves and giving themselves the passing grades. And unfortunately, that's not a good way to motivate people. I don't let my students at NYU grade their own exams.

We need really independent evaluators; independent auditors that are out there in the field saying are these guys really doing the job of making the money reach the poor? And then maybe they will feel much more motivated to get results.

WESTHOVEN: Is there some kind of organization, I'm just trying to get at how we actually find a solution to this because we really do, the goal is to help people. What kinds of organizations could provide that kind of auditing or be responsible for the accountability factor here, which you know, is lacking in so many ways. Boy, accountability, it's a great thing, really hard to put it in practice.

EASTERLY: I'm definitely not saying it's easy. But think of how it works in the corporate world. We don't have like a big central organization of auditors auditing all of the corporations in the United States. We have this decentralized system of independent auditors and accountants who meet minimum professional standards who are called in to pass independent judgment on a company's books. And we can have pretty much the same in the aid business.

There are plenty of professionals that could go out in the field and check whether the goods reach the poor, ask the poor if they are satisfied. Somehow that's not happening because there is no political pressure to make it happen.

VELSHI: Bill, this has been a long-standing problem. Do you think it's getting better? Are we becoming more accountable and the shift to more private organizations undertaking a lot of this work, you think that is helping?

EASTERLY: I hope so. I'm an optimist. I believe that people are caring more and more about the poor because of the images they see on their TV screens. I think that people are starting to demand much more accountability to see that money reached the poor.

WESTHOVEN: When you say that rock bands or economists are out there being do gooders and funneling aid are doing more harm than good, are they really doing harm or do you think they are not doing enough good? What kind of harm could you mean?

EASTERLY: Well, I think what they do is they create a sort of feel good experience for all of us rich people, that is satisfied by the act of spending the money on the poor.

WESTHOVEN: And not making sure it gets there.

EASTERLY: Not making sure it gets there. All of this publicity on the amount spent substitutes for any scrutiny of whether the money gets there. You know our tastes for helping the poor are too easily satisfied by having a rock concert and saying $100 million was spent on foreign aid last year.

WESTHOVEN: Bill Easterly, a former World Bank economist and author of "White Man's Burden" thank you so much for joining us and for making sure what we give actually ends up helping the poor.

Coming up after the break. A back office in plant for charities, find out how some techar's brought solid business sense to the nonprofit world.

Plus glitz meets grits. We will hear about Bono's knack for using celebrity for the cause of philanthropy.

And short and sweet, Allen Wastler tells us what he found out about volunteering for busy people.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Most charities and nonprofits are created to help people in need. Sometimes these organizations need some help of their own. In the late '90's Seattle's tech boom created a generation of Microsoft millionaires and a group of former executives wanted to use the skills that made them successful to help kids in the Pacific Northwest.

PAUL SHOEMAKER: They looked around the country for different models and what were the needs that were out there and they heard kind of two ideas. One was a desire from nonprofits to get not just financial help but human capital and expertise and business skills and expertise. They also heard desire from philanthropists to be more engaged in the work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guiding principle and purpose.

VELSHI: Social Venture Partners invest in groups with growing pains, ones with successful programs but lacking the back office infrastructure to keep growing.

SHOEMAKER: We're trying to put the right person in the right place so the CFO will go in and do an accounting project. Management consultant will go in and work with the company on a three-year strategic plan. A developer will go in and help an organization develop its Website.

VELSHI: When the Wonderland Developmental Center applied for aid they had not seen growth in 30 years.

JANA PETTIT: At the time SVP came on board we didn't have somebody to put stuff into quick book and track our finances.

LARRY WALLACH, SVP LEAD PARTNER: There was real problem with their infrastructure, with their finances, with their organization. They lacked a lot. It was readily apparent that I could do a lot to get them on the path to meeting their mission and helping these children.

VELSHI: SVP commits funding for five years but the money comes with strings attached.

PETTIT: They require a work plan and they require us to tell us where we are in line with the work plan.

VELSHI: More than a dozen SVP partners have volunteered at Wonderland in the last five years.

SHOEMAKER: Helping with marketing, helping with negotiating leases, helping in setting up the agency for an external audit to make sure its financial systems are honest and accountable. There have been people that have come in and helped delivering services directly to the children. The list goes on and on.

PETTIT: It's been amazing. I think when they first started with us our budget was $250,000. Our budget this year is $650,000. We served about 30 kids a month, now we are serving on average 65 kids and their families.

VELSHI: Back at Social Venture Partners they are discussing plans for the future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Start to define that broader world.

VELSHI: And the idea is catching on, sharing the model of giving both money and skills, 23 SVP affiliates are in business around the world.

SHOEMAKER: There is a set of tools and systems that we can bring to a new city, just like any business would that has you know, franchise or grown or expanded. You figure out those things that you can give to the next site that helps it get up to speed faster.

VELSHI: To find out how to start a Social Venture Partner group in your community check out SVPINTERNATIONAL.org.

Coming up on IN THE MONEY from rock to a hard place, we'll see how the U2 singers desire to help connected him to the suffering of a continent.

Also ahead, making change. Find out why celebrities are doing more for charity when we speak with the founder of "Good" Magazine. And it time to hear from some of you as we read your email from the past week. You can send us an email right now. We're at INTHEMONEY@CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. Now in the news, Iran slapped with sanctions over its nuclear program, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to ban Tehran's trade in nuclear materials and ballistic missiles. The U.S. applauds the resolution but wants the world to do more including freezing international loans to Iran.

Iran insists the program is for peaceful purposes.

Palestian President Mahmmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are meeting right now in Jerusalem. It is a first for them in their current positions. A peace break through could help both leaders as they face serious political problems at home.

Millions of Americans are heading home for the holidays this weekend. The nations highways and airways are packed. And the weather is causing some serious holiday headaches. Updates throughout day here on CNN.

And coming up at 2:00 Eastern, a Saudi prince runs up a $10 million bill, and doesn't pay. Think you can get away with that? A live report from Washington.

Now back to IN THE MONEY.

WESTHOVEN: He's been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, rumored at one point to be a candidate to run the World Bank and he is the lead singer of one of the best known rock bands of all times. U2's Bono isn't the first celebrity to bridge the gap between fame and philanthropy but he is doing in a different way. To give his cause as huge boost and give shoppers a chance to make the difference he teamed up with some big name companies. We recently sat down with Bono to talk about his work and his newest program, Product Red.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BONO, U2 LEAD SINGER: It's really odd to say this but my time spent in Africa got me interested in commerce, you know, in trade. Africans love to trade. They are very entrepreneurial people. They have to be. If they are not usually they're dead. On any street corner you find that. And I also picked up from Africans that they want to do business with us. They are dignified the relationship rather than being the recipient of aid. So now enter the gap.

So the gap already making clothes in Africa but they don't particularly tell that story, through Product Red they are getting to tell that story. They are committing to the workforce that they have in Africa. They are making more and more stuff in Africa because they see that this is a continent in crisis and this is smart. Now gap are in Product Red giving 50 percent of net profit to buy aid. It's kind of winning everywhere.

And now today I'm coming through the Lincoln Tunnel, this is everywhere. There's just red advertising. Not paid for by the world organizations or indeed by me. I can't afford that. As rich a rocker as I am. But they can, GAP can. Or the "New York Times," they bought cover to cover. It's filled with advertising. Motorola can spend a fortune on TV advertising. Apple are using their ipod to promote these things.

I've got to just earlier this year, all our organizations has met on a two-day outing in France. There is the data people, there is the one campaigner, there's Product Red, and after two days we finished our annual meeting, we walked down the road, sitting in a restaurant and the phone rings and it's Bill Gates. He said are you sitting down? I said well, actually I'm just about to. Just opening a bottle of wine. Two days. Listen. You need to sit down.

He said, I've got somebody who wants to tell you something here. So Warren comes on the phone. Hi, Bono. Listen, I want to tell you, you know, I got all this money and you know, I don't want to spend it. And I said well, Warren. He said well, about $32 million. And -- I said well, do you mind if I put you on speakerphone? So Warren Buffet was talking now to the people who really do the work. I mean, I'm the rock star; these are the people who actually are changing the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WESTHOVEN: Product Red launched in October in the United States and just three weeks into the campaign enough money was raised to provide 650,000 HIV tabs as well as a year's worth of treatment for 10,000 HIV positive men and women.

There are lots more to come here on IN THE MONEY. Up next get engaged. "Good" Magazine is about making the planet better. Not just going along for the ride. We will speak with the founder.

Plus change the world in 15 minutes, find out about a charity that knows how much you can accomplish in just a quarter hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WESTHOVEN: Super rich, 20 and 30 something's aren't usually the people who step forward to try and change the word but 26-year-old Ben Goldhirsch is one of those very rich people who is not only trying to change things, he is trying to make good sexy. Ben Goldhirsch is the founder of "Good" Magazine, which is available on newsstands now. Welcome to the program. Thanks for joining us. For those of us who haven't seen the magazine, what is it really about? Are you doing it to sort of give praise to people who do something good in your opinion? Or also to inspire or both?

BEN GOLDHIRSCH, FOUNDER, "GOOD" MAGAZINE: Basically, you know, we think there is an emerging sensibility right now of moving things forward. I think people mistake us to be specific to the nonprofits because of the name good. But in reality this sensibility is incarnating in a number of different ways. It's in business, it is in politics, and it is in culture. We want to be a platform to celebrate the sensibility wherever it's coming to life. That's the basic effort. You are pushing on all fronts.

VELSHI: Ben I don't know what you have been looking at, but you notice what people are buying at news stands, the idea of an altruistic magazine I don't know is at the top of their list. Who are you selling this to?

GOLDHIRSCH: We're selling this to people who we think give a dam. That's an emerging market right there. There are a lot of people digging in. The sell through rates, you know evident something different you know we're 70 percent sell through at most college campuses. We're 100 percent sold out on the coastal market. Something's happening and we're just here to cover it. I look at the analog being the evolution of technology over the past 25 year, how it went from nerdy to powerful and sexy. I think the same thing is happening with "Good" and engagement. It's wired with the publication that really responded to that projectory. I think "Good" Magazine is the publication that's dealing with this transition.

WESTHOVEN: OK, so for now the fee is $20, but the total fee goes to charity, so obviously that's not really a sustainable business model. Are you planning to --

GOLDHIRSCH: Let me interrupt right there. I actually think it is a sustainable model. A core tenant of this magazine is doing well by doing good. We're not trying to just talk about that, we are trying to walk the walk as well. With a good campaign we teamed up with 12 organizations that we think mesh with our ideas and values. When people subscribe to the magazine at GOODMAGAZINE.com they get to choose one of these 12 organizations to donate the entirety of their subscription fee to. A lot of people think this is not a sustainable model. With the campaign we've done three things. We won the consumer with the added benefit of the money going to charity, two, we created a story that gets pr like what we are getting now, and three, we activated the marketing infrastructure of these 12 organizations which we could never afford.

So in an industry where people actually lose money, we think we have a more efficient and cost effective model of increasing our readership.

WESTHOVEN: Right but you still, I'm saying the $20 is all of that goes to charity, somebody has to pay for actually putting the magazine together. Are you saying the ads pay for that? That is what you mean by sustainable?

GOLDHIRSH: Exactly. That's the goal. That we'll use the choose good campaign to build up enough readership where the advertisers will fund the growth of the company. Our goal is to get 50,000 subscribers this year and raise $1 million. I think we are on the right trajectory. But we really need help. We hope around the holiday season's people really dig in and choose good as a gift for people. We think it's a great magazine and we think the added benefit of the money going to charity makes it a hell of a sell.

VELSHI: Ben I'm just looking at the TV screen and underneath your name it says "Good" Magazine and Reason Pictures.

GOLDHIRSH: Reason Pictures, is the film arm of the company, it's basically the same rubric. It's relevant entertaining content. But making sure that the foundations are there, the narrative is successful and of interest to a wide audience. That's same with "Good" we're really trying to bring content that we think is interesting and important, we are making sure it fits with the interest of our audience and certainly fits with the sensibilities of our audience which is one that is very creative, very smart, very hungry, just to move things forward and push it.

WESTHOVEN: One thing I wanted to ask about was the change in culture from this 30 years ago. You're aimed at younger people. And 30, 40 years ago they were having sit-ins and protests and you say that now we're more comfortable with the structure and working inside the structure as opposed to destructing it and protesting.

GOLDHIRSH: Yes I think you have kids that grew up with the benefits of capitalism. There is not a distrust of the infrastructure. I think people rather see how they can serve a broader interest. In that sense we moved from protest to pro-action where people really want to just you know, utilize any asset they have, whether it be their physical capital, their position in their career, just to make sure they are involved with moving things forward. I think people are aware the stakes are high right now and stuff needs to get done, so people are digging in. Whether that's with volunteer hours, whether that's products they choose to purchase and demanding their money enjoys some positive externality or whether it's coming to vote.

You looked at what happened at the midterms and it exploded. This idea of engagement it's happening in a bag way. We're so excited to support that and service that. We're part of this emerging sensibility. We want to make sure that we're celebrating as best as possible.

BRYANT: Ben congratulations on what you're doing. It's very impressive.

GOLDHIRSCH: Thanks a lot. I appreciate it. We'll see what happens. I think in another year we'll get a sense whether this magazine is working. But right now the reaction we're getting from the audience, the reaction we are getting at the events and conferences we're holding are really wonderful. We're trying to build a brand that represents intellectually and stimulating media and we're trying to see that created across the media spectrum. They have a market and the way they service it on TV on film and online so that's our goal for good. The magazine is the first incarnation.

VELSHI: Ben Goldhirsch is the founder of "Good" Magazine and the founder of Reason Pictures. He is 26 years old.

GOLDHIRSCH: Thanks so much. CNN, we love you guys. Thanks so much. VELSHI: Thank you, Ben. They are part of my money so I have to love them to.

Money isn't always the reason why more Americans don'ts give to charity however; time is often a bigger stumbling block for people who would rather do more than just write a check. Our man Allen Wastler has a look at a couple of Web sites for busy do gooders.

ALLEN WASTLER, CNNMONEY.COM. MANAGING EDITOR: The first on Charityguide.com. You click down and they have basic categories, take what they call charity vacation where you spend time doing it. Or do a few hour projects. But what I found really intriguing because I tend to be very time compressed is they have 15 minutes do good type thing suggestions. You go out and in 15 minutes you can do something that is good and worth while.

WESTHOVEN: Can you really do it?

WASTLER: We went into the field to test it out to see whether or not we could do it. So we took a camera. You see, there I am. This is donating a gift. We went to the Toys R Us downtown Times Square. At the time we did this they had a set up. We got "Happy Feet," we got Marsha the penguins, we got everything. We went down there, we bought the gift. At this Toys R Us at that the time they had a little Toys for Tots donation.

VELSHI: You make your donation right there.

WASTLER: Right so you make it right there, they don't have it there now but there are plenty of other places you can drop the toy to. So took me not counting all of the CNN camera stuff we had to do, but the actual doing it, about eight minutes. No biggy.

WESTHOVEN: Come on.

WASTLER: It would have been a charm had we not decided to drive back from Times Square than take the subway. But that was good, a couple other ones. A lot of times you try to donate, is this charity do good, is this the right one. Charitynavigator.com it is sort of like this clearinghouse for charities. You can go in there and they have rated charities, they look and give you the studies, the schedule, which charities seem to be more effective, which are well organized. I like that.

WESTHOVEN: Is this like a Morning Star rating or a place for griping?

WASTLER: They are pretty scientific. They actually rated them pretty well.

VELSHI: How much, what proportion they spend.

WASTLER: How much of the dollar they do all that. Finally, a tiny one but you'll love this concept. Goodsearch.com. We all search on the Internet, right. We go and look for this and look for that. If you would use goodsearch.com, the search-based advertising that comes up with it and everything that goes to the charity. You can name which charity you want. Isn't that nice idea? One of our old colleagues started that. You can find these sites and do some good. Thank you.

VELSHI: In less than 15 minutes.

WESTHOVEN: That's the key. Coming up next, it's about time, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak had millions to give but see how he discovers that offering time felt better than handing over cash.

It's time to hear from you as we read some of your emails from the past week, send those emails right now to we are at INTHEMONEY@cnn.com.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Love to shop till you drop? Well consider this, your credit history could affect your shopping future. Your habits determine the loans you get when you buy a home or a new car. Here is how to keep track of where you stand. Order a copy of your credit report every year. It's free thanks to a federal law. As of September 2005, consumers across the U.S. can order free credit reports from all three credit-reporting agencies. Experian, Equifax and Transunion.

These reports are available through annualcreditreport.com. Read your report carefully. If something is there that shouldn't be contact the credit agencies. While it takes time to clear up mistakes, if something looks suspicious, place a fraud alert with the credit bureaus and contact your police department to file a police report.

Finally, watch out for scams. There are a lot of businesses out there that offer credit reports and counseling. Before doing business with many of these groups check them without your local consumer protection agency or Better Business Bureau. For more information log on to the Federal Trade Commission Website at FTC.gov.

For "Family Fortune" I'm Jen Rogers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WESTHOVEN: Joining us now on the program Jen Rogers with this weeks "Life After Work" story.

Jen.

ROGERS: It's an interesting story. You know the story of Steve Jobs has been well documented but you probably don't know as much about the other Steve, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. He is arguably the inventor of the personal computer but he decided to forego the executive suite at Apple and all of the money that goes with that. Instead this subject of this week's "Life After Work" seems happier giving money away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROGERS (voice over): Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computer three decades ago. Revolutionizing the computer industry and becoming very rich along the way.

STEVE WOZNIAK, CO-FOUNDER, APPLE COMPUTER: Way too much.

ROGERS: As his bank account grew so did Wozniak's desire to do something else.

WOZNIAK: I had way, way more you could ever use in life and I wanted to go out early and start doing some good things, make me feel good about myself.

ROGERS: Wozniak left his full time job at Apple in the 80s and went back to college. He produced music festivals, funded a children's museum and even underwrote the local ballet. He eventually focused his philanthropy on education providing computers to schools. Soon he started teaching and found giving his time more rewarding than giving money.

WOZNIAK: I like doing things hand on, I didn't want write classes. What I wanted to do were touch 30 kids.

ROGERS: His philosophy in teaching as well as life is to have fun. This attitude on display at a recent signing for his new book "iWoz" in New York's 92nd Street has won him a loyal following.

WOZNIAK: To John and Phyllis.

ROGERS: He continues to give to charities but says his resources aren't what they used to be.

WOZNIAK: What I have left gets smaller and smaller. I wanted it to be smaller.

ROGERS: Wozniak says he never wanted to be defined by wealth, which may be why he's had so much fun giving it away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS: Of all he's done in technology and philanthropy, Wozniak says he is most proud of having a street named after him in San Jose. It's called Woz Way he got the honor as a thank you for his work in the community. And honestly the man gets giddy telling you that you can find it on a map and if you rent a car it's on your GPS.

VELSHI: He has given it away in a way he doesn't have as much of it any more. He gives less over time. Does he seem happy to not be as wealthy as he once was?

ROGERS: He really seemed happy. He said he never wanted to be rich. He wanted to be an engineer. He loves the engineering process. Even he said Apple is the bane of my existence. It gave me so much but then it also put so much attention on me. He is a shy guy. He'd rather not be in the spotlight. WESTHOVEN: What are some of the things that he does donates to, what are some of the charities and events that have come up because of his money?

ROGERS: A lot of interesting things out there, the Electronics Frontier Foundation which a legal organization for digital rights, the Tech Museum which is trying to preserve a lot of the history of Silicone Valley. Even things like the ballet. I asked how do you decide what you are giving to? It's very diverse. He said, I just go with my gut, which are interesting for somebody who is so logic based and a scientist and an engineer. If they seem like they are doing a good thing I'll give them money.

VELSHI: What is he doing at Apple right now?

ROGERS: He is still on the payroll at Apple, he always has been. He is a fellow. He gets a little bit but he wanted to have some connection to the company. He basically goes around and when he is talking he is a representative for the company. He has a couple tech projects that he's working on, on his own on the side.

WESTHOVEN: Jen, we often have your stories. It's greet have you on the program. Thank you.

We're going to be back with more IN THE MONEY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WESTHOVEN: Now it is time to read your answers to our question about who you think can do a better job at wiping out poverty governments or corporations?

JA in New Jersey writes, "The only answer is governments. Corporations are run for profit and are not set up for helping people. Greed creates poverty, it doesn't eliminate it."

Monty in Texas says, "You're asking the wrong question. The question is who will do a better job. Both could do a decent job, but political and corporate greed prevents them from succeeding on a grand scale. When we see how much a few individuals like Bono and Bill Gates can do, it's clear governments and corporations are slacking off."

And Gerald writes, "the answer is: 'both.' But would Washington ever give Halliburton a no-bid contract to fight poverty instead of supplying a war? Not a chance."

And remember you don't have to wait for us to ask a question to send an email. You can always reach us with your thoughts, comments, suggestions, any thing you want at inthemoney@cnn.com. And visit our show page CNN.com/inthemoney.

Thanks for joining us for this special holiday edition of IN THE MONEY, and my thanks to Ali Velshi. And CNNMONEY.com managing editor Allen Wastler. We will see you back here next week Saturday at 1:00, Sunday at 3:00. See you then.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com