Anyone believe they will actually do anything meaningful or will they do things that improve their PR image and cost them no blood, sweat and tears? Take the 500 tree pledge. It sounds great and will cost a lot of money and if you plant them it will take a lot of effort. However, that’s not the case, unless of course you plant the trees you buy at your local nursery. Oxfam will plant 1,000 trees for you for $500 http://www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com/product.php?productid=56 . I don’t know how many trees Heifer International plants for your $60 donation but it’s far more than 1. 500 trees isn’t even pocket change for people like those making the pledge. They spend more on a pair of jeans and a top than the cost to plant 500 trees.
If they do a PSA they’ll write off all the costs of producing the PSA which will be done by one of their own corporations including the cost of hiring them at their normal rates. This will be done to reduce the gross income of the profit making corporation. If they just volunteer to do a PSA which someone else produces they can’t write off the value of their time and services. These guys have really good accountants and money management people tasked with maximizing their income.