Charity balls, auctions, dinners, booze-free months, hirsute months, golf days, car rallies, concerts, fun runs: Sydney's fund-raising circuit seems at saturation point at times, not least for the host of celebrity personalities asked to spearhead the waves of goodwill.
Like it or not, working for the greater good – CSR, or celebrity social responsibility – goes with having a public profile these days. It is a CV requirement for any TV, sports or music personality, a part of the job so laden with expectation that the requests land in agents' inboxes at the first whiff of fame.
''As soon as you get any public profile in Sydney, you get asked to help out with things, which is actually quite flattering when it first happens,'' says ABC broadcaster Adam Spencer, whose charity work includes Dry July, a month-long alcohol free month in aid of cancer services. ''Then you go through this very difficult stage of being asked to do a lot more than you can really manage.''
Dry July started after a single phone call on his radio talkback program and has so far raised $15 million to $20 million. Altogether, the host estimates to have contributed towards raising an astonishing $50 million for good causes.
When done well, celebrity support of charities can be hugely successful, says Louise Walsh, head of Philanthropy Australia. She has seen crowd-funding projects go through the roof thanks to a single, well-timed tweet from an A-list actor.
Like many, Spencer is in the cross-hairs of charities whose reach can quickly be multiplied many times over with the help of a popular public figure. Spencer soon learnt to focus on a tiny number of causes and support them well. He says he is forced to say no to at least 50 charity requests a year (''a terrible feeling the first 100 times you say it'').
Agent Lauren Miller Cilento, whose father started the leading Harry M Miller talent company, says she receives five to 10 requests a week for her clients, who include author Tara Moss and racehorse trainer Gai Waterhouse.
Miller Cilento says she is more likely to take on a well-rounded talent who has marketable interests, in this case of the not-for-profit variety, than those who are more myopic. An ethical bent has quite literally become a job requirement.
It is inevitable, if unfair, that people who spend much of their public lives being photographed at charity functions may be thought of as less than genuine.
While there is nothing wrong with those who commit to ''everybody'', Miller Cilento says, consumers and advocates of causes ''see right through'' those who are in it for dubious reasons. Long gone are the days of the 2000s, she said, when celebrity charity work was inappropriately viewed as a way to recover profile. Not only is charity giving now expected, it is expected to come from the heart.
Tiffany Farrington, director of Social Diary, said red carpet outings can benefit both sides of the equation.
''It's symbiotic,'' she says. ''I don't mean that in a cynical way, it works both ways.''
Starlets gain exposure and CSR while bulbs flash against charity-emblazoned media screens.
Hip hop group Justice Crew, who do 10 to 15 free performances a year, see their authentic and gratis efforts in the charity sector building a massive popular groundswell in communities that has undoubtedly helped their rise.
''I can understand people being cynical and thinking it's just PR or them trying to salve their own conscience. But the bulk of people I know doing charity work in the public eye, they are really attached to these causes,'' said Spencer, who is one of many well-known faces who have personal connections to their pro bono work.
The Fred Hollows Foundation operated on his eye as a child, forever binding the host to the cause, with or without his work for the charity as an adult.
Model Lara Bingle does her bit for Bowel Cancer Australia after losing her father to the disease and Miller Cilento, whose father has dementia, is active with Alzheimer's Australia.
Actor Hugh Jackman, surfer Layne Beachley, cricketer Ricky Ponting and golfer Adam Scott (and many more) use their names to generate funds for their personal foundations, then distribute money and expertise.
Away from the glitz of the event circuit – never easy for committees who must guarantee that "money is in the room" to deliver results on the night – the auctioning of star-owned gear, from David Beckham's football boots to Pharrell Williams' hat, is a growing sector of the market, and comes without $1000-a-head dinner tickets.
Auction Cause is a rapidly expanding American marketing agency whose unique selling proposition is managing hype for celebrity hand-me-downs on eBay. It is yet another string in the bow of the celeb giving industry and it is gaining momentum in Australia, says celebrity broker at WaterFront, Sean Pickwell.
And while America has the showbiz clout to sign, seal and deliver a number of gargantuan cheques to good causes – Gisele Bundchen's US$1.5 million ($1.6 million) to Red Cross' Haiti appeal stands out – Australians have a way to go. Hugh Jackman, Baz Luhrmann, Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman are honourable exceptions.
''Contrary to popular opinion, except for the very, very top tier, most celebrities and music stars don't make squillions of dollars to throw around,'' says Pickwell, who notes a vast amount of donated money and time never sees the public light of day. This, to Philanthropy Australia's Walsh, is a lost opportunity.
She is all for celebrity philanthropy, providing individuals are willing to reach into their pockets and talk about it openly, encouraging others to do the same.
''It's not about the size of the cheques; it's the principle that matters. I like to see celebrities not just lend their name but donate money as well,'' says Walsh, who holds up Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness' work, combining cash donations and fund-raising, as a shining example of high-profile philanthropy.
''I like to think celebrities will put their money where their mouth is.''
