In the shiny world of large-scale charity efforts, they have often been viewed as high-stakes contests for image branding and elaborate publicity stunts. There is nothing more familiar than the old-school approach: the rock star holds a glamorous benefit gala, the tech mogul writes one big cheque for a massive concert in an indoor stadium, or the foundation announces a splashy, but temporary project aimed at generating instantaneous buzz on social media.
But a true social movement subverts this entire idea by placing all of its energy on the mundanities of repetition in the routine. Social change on a truly grass-roots level doesn't come about over one weekend. Still, it does when one systematically destroys the economic obstacles that keep families from moving forward in their own homes. Dolly Parton revolutionised traditional celebrity giving when she moved beyond public relations events to create the Imagination Library, a process that integrates her funding into the regular cycle of mailing a child one new free book per month until they turn five years old.
