Mark Joyner's brainchild for helping others around the world

Excellent article on the practical application of cause related marketing (aka <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.jointwinwin.com/blog/strategic-philanthropy-part-1/" title="strategic philanthropy">Strategic Philanthropy</a>). Practical business building advice whilst giving to good causes.

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The hunt for an AIDS vaccine, a scientific quest that has stumped infectious disease researchers for two decades, is receiving a $100 million boost from a Massachusetts technology magnate, whose gift will create a Boston institute fusing the expertise of doctors, engineers, and biologists. Stunned by scenes of desperation he witnessed in HIV-ravaged South Africa, Phillip Terrence Ragon is spending a considerable chunk of his fortune to accelerate research for a vaccine that would slow the relentless spread of the virus that causes AIDS and now infects more than 33 million people worldwide. The money, $10 million a year for the next decade, will go to Massachusetts General Hospital but be shared with other research powerhouses, including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An announcement of the gift, the largest in Mass. General's history, is expected this morning from Ragon, 59, the founder and sole owner of InterSystems, a Cambridge company that provides database software to hospitals and other industries. The AIDS vaccine research center is modeled on the Broad Institute in Cambridge, which explores the frontiers of genetic science, and, much like the Broad, will foster collaborations among specialists who do not usually spend much time talking to one another.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is joining the UK and German governments in a big initiative aimed at eradicating polio. Huge strides have been made in pushing annual cases of the crippling disease down to 1,618 worldwide. But polio persists in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, and there are fears that if it not eradicated, cases could begin to climb again. Today's pledges total £435m - but experts believe £250m is still needed to eradicate the disease.