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UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie dropped by Syrian refugees in Turkey last week. But celebrities trivializing - even threatening - a good cause

Peter Stanford is a journalist, and the board of several charities

expectations

Never say never, but in my experience, the benefits of the talk of supporting celebrities rarely encountered in making such dividends requires additional organizational muscle that is beyond the limited resources of most charities small and medium enterprises. I lost count of the number of CEOs and presidents of the charity who told me that their hopes of a return on investment shock because they had a famous face in a fundraising event, or in front of a campaign, then I was disappointed. I think I would have done better to focus their efforts instead to refine the mechanics of the event, or to improve your campaign message so that it really touches a nerve with the public. We live in an era of celebrity, but imagine a big name will automatically open the hearts and wallets not underestimate our potential supporters.

Justin Forsyth is the CEO of Save the Children

In my experience, the benefits are legendary celebrities, but real - and can produce concrete results. Without the campaign energy Bono, Bob Geldof and Richard Curtis, for example, do not think that 46 million children are in school today in some of the poorest countries in the world. The combination of creativity, tenacity and the call has transformed the campaign Make Poverty History and Drop the debt. I remember just before the G8 summit in Gleneagles in 2005, Bono got a 10, he met with the chief negotiators of each country, and after stirring for launch, asked how they want to be seen by their grandchildren children in the years ahead - as leaders who changed the world or are missing an historic opportunity.

course, the key to fame is not everything. Each charitable organization - large or small - should have a clear and compelling message about what you are trying to reach. But the passionate support of a celebrity because of it can help you reach new audiences with this message.

Stacey Solomon, a great mother, went to Malawi with us as part of our No Child is born to die campaign to highlight the plight of mothers dying in childbirth. Its range [as

X-Factor

stars], the popular media, is amazing. Through their experiences, the words of mothers who met in Malawi were heard in the halls of millions of families across the UK.

can not be, under certain circumstances, a role for celebrities in the marketing objectives of a charitable organization, but we need deeper questions. Why our studies back the fans as a human right for all children around the world, or decent maternity care in Malawi? Because Bono and Stacey Solomon, however well intentioned, they give their approval, or because he is survived by the injustices that our world scars and degrade our humanity? Celebrities can get in the way the messenger more important than the message.

The danger of this argument is that organizations not only talk to people like themselves who already believe. Millions of people are inspired by the music, sports and film, so we use this inspiration to communicate million people suffer injustices. If we change the world, we have to participate and take advantage of people's emotions through the power of human stories that everyone can relate to. The author Michael Morpurgo went to Gaza to us. Parents who read their books to their children, and those paralyzed by War Horse

, were locked when he arrived on BBC1 to give the Dimbleby lecture.

You give the impression that the joint is shallow celebrity, but my experience is often the opposite. Celebrities take their talents to the cause - and not have to be in a high profile. Returning from India, one of our ambassadors, Natasha Kaplinsky, helped lobbying behind the scenes of a breakthrough came last week in vaccines for deadly diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhea, vaccines that will save four million lives.

good points. The choice of celebrity and the cause is critical to success, and there are risks to consider. But I do not think we will reach the big change we need in the world - to save children's lives to fight for human rights - without the power of celebrity voices. We can not afford to be too cautious or too purist, the task is very urgent and very important