Kudos to American Express

Congratulations American Express. You Rock! Yesterday I received an email announcing the 25 projects that American Express has chosen for the finals in the Members Project, which awards $2.5 million to 5 projects that will make a positive difference in the world. I noticed that the nominee in second place with over 6000 votes was NOT chosen to make the finals. Weird huh?? Since I'm coincidentally doing a ton of "contest research" right now, I was very curious about this.  I did a google search to see if I could find out anything. Check this out! That entry made it to second place by being "goon-rushed" by the "Something Awful" forums. You may recall that this is the same group of people who "goon-rushed" the Ideablob contest, causing POTA to lose the $20 grant in June! (Something Awful has been disqualified from other contests for playing unfairly, cheating, "proxy" voting, etc.)  Interesting...  

Presenting the Top 25 Member Projects:
$25 Infant Incubator
6,000 Girls' Scholarships in the Developing World
Advancing Education in Rural Cambodia
Alzheimer's Disease: Early Detection Matters
ASHA - The Livelihood Programme for millions
End Human Trafficking:Sustainable Livelihoods
Feeding 1 Million Children Daily
Help 100,000 children thrive in the classroom!
Help Women and Children Survivors of War Rebuild
Helping Poor Mayans to Help Themselves
Jharkhand Tribal Project
Kids for Sight: Ending childhood blindness - India
Loans That Change Lives
Marine Conservation & Awareness- Pacific Solo Row
Mobile Pediatric Orthopaedic Education
My Little Waiting Room
New, Affordable Treatments with Existing Drugs
Project Brain Child
Protect Cocos Island - World Heritage Site
Rebuilding New Orleans Green
Saving the Lives of Malnourished Children
Solar Powered Africa-LED Lanterns Lighting the Way
Stop the traffic! (human trafficking)
The 3G Project
Using the Power of Soccer to Fight AIDS in Africa

Support your favorite project. American Express will fund the winning projects with $2.5 million:
$1,500,000 for the winning project
$500,000 for the second place project
$300,000 for the third place project
$100,000 each for the two remaining finalists

Vote for your favorite cause here:  membersproject.com