time and discuss how wonderful I feel, or I could use it for something productive."

In making that decision, Cheek generated a flood of interest in Right to Play (shown in a huge upswing in website hits), and a total (as of today) of $300,000 in donations (including his and those from sponsors Nike, Gap, Jet Set and Leveno to date).

So Joey zigged while others zagged. Here's how he made this tremendous impact:

• Strategized how to draw the most attenti

A month ago, I'd never heard of Joey Cheek or Right to Play. Now, they're both imprinted in my mind as stellar examples of smart-thinking humanitarians. They've shown that, once again, getting attention in this fast-moving world requires being savvy and strategic in getting your message across to the world.

Gold medalist Cheek capitalized on his moment of fame (he was on the podium, accepting his medial) to announce he was donating his entire $25,000 medal bonus to humanitarian organization Right to Play (which helps disadvantaged children worldwide gain physical benefits and develop life skills and strong values through play and sports.) He reiterated this high-impact marketing strategy with his $10,000 bonus when he won the silver in the 1,000 meter race. And he challenged his Olympic sponsors and other advertisers to do the same:

"I've always felt that if I ever did something big like this I wanted to be prepared to give something back. So ... I'm going to be donating the entire sum the USOC gives to me, which is $25,000."

"In the Darfur region of Sudan, there have been tens of thousands of people killed," Cheek continued. "My government has labeled it a genocide. I will be donating [my prize money] specifically to the [Right to Play] in Chad, where there are over 60,000 children who have been displaced from their homes."

Way to go, Joey. And I don't mean the medals. Of course he could have donated his winnings without telling anyone. But in a radio interview, Cheek discussed his pre-race thinking on how to respond to the bonus, if he got one. He realized the great impact he could make by talking about Right to Play, its good work and his giving, rather than the standard thanks.

"I've learned how news cycles work," Cheek said, "and I've learned that there is a gold medal tonight, and tomorrow there's another gold medalist. So I could take the time and discuss how wonderful I feel, or I could use it for something productive."

In making that decision, Cheek generated a flood of interest in Right to Play (shown in a huge upswing in website hits), and a total (as of today) of $300,000 in donations (including his and those from sponsors Nike, Gap, Jet Set and Leveno to date).

So Joey zigged while others zagged. Here's how he made this tremendous impact:

• Strategized how to draw the most attenti

organization Right to Play (which helps disadvantaged children worldwide gain physical benefits and develop life skills and strong values through play and sports.) He reiterated this high-impact marketing strategy with his $10,000 bonus when he won the silver in the 1,000 meter race. And he challenged his Olympic sponsors and other advertisers to do the same:

"I've always felt that if I ever did something big like this I wanted to be prepared to give something back. So ... I'm going to be donating the entire sum the USOC gives to me, which is $25,000."

"In the Darfur region of Sudan, there have been tens of thousands of people killed," Cheek continued. "My government has labeled it a genocide. I will be donating [my prize money] specifically to the [Right to Play] in Chad, where there are over 60,000 children who have been displaced from their homes."

Way to go, Joey. And I don't mean the medals. Of course he could have donated his winnings without telling anyone. But in a radio interview, Cheek discussed his pre-race thinking on how to respond to the bonus, if he got one. He realized the great impact he could make by talking about Right to Play, its good work and his giving, rather than the standard thanks.

"I've learned how news cycles work," Cheek said, "and I've learned that there is a gold medal tonight, and tomorrow there's another gold medalist. So I could take the time and discuss how wonderful I feel, or I could use it for something productive."

In making that decision, Cheek generated a flood of interest in Right to Play (shown in a huge upswing in website hits), and a total (as of today) of $300,000 in donations (including his and those from sponsors Nike, Gap, Jet Set and Leveno to date).

So Joey zigged while others zagged. Here's how he made this tremendous impact:

• Strategized how to draw the most attenti

. I'm going to be donating the entire sum the USOC gives to me, which is $25,000."

"In the Darfur region of Sudan, there have been tens of thousands of people killed," Cheek continued. "My government has labeled it a genocide. I will be donating [my prize money] specifically to the [Right to Play] in Chad, where there are over 60,000 children who have been displaced from their homes."

Way to go, Joey. And I don't mean the medals. Of course he could have donated his winnings without telling anyone. But in a radio interview, Cheek discussed his pre-race thinking on how to respond to the bonus, if he got one. He realized the great impact he could make by talking about Right to Play, its good work and his giving, rather than the standard thanks.

"I've learned how news cycles work," Cheek said, "and I've learned that there is a gold medal tonight, and tomorrow there's another gold medalist. So I could take the time and discuss how wonderful I feel, or I could use it for something productive."

In making that decision, Cheek generated a flood of interest in Right to Play (shown in a huge upswing in website hits), and a total (as of today) of $300,000 in donations (including his and those from sponsors Nike, Gap, Jet Set and Leveno to date).

So Joey zigged while others zagged. Here's how he made this tremendous impact:

• Strategized how to draw the most attenti

d have donated his winnings without telling anyone. But in a radio interview, Cheek discussed his pre-race thinking on how to respond to the bonus, if he got one. He realized the great impact he could make by talking about Right to Play, its good work and his giving, rather than the standard thanks.

"I've learned how news cycles work," Cheek said, "and I've learned that there is a gold medal tonight, and tomorrow there's another gold medalist. So I could take the time and discuss how wonderful I feel, or I could use it for something productive."

In making that decision, Cheek generated a flood of interest in Right to Play (shown in a huge upswing in website hits), and a total (as of today) of $300,000 in donations (including his and those from sponsors Nike, Gap, Jet Set and Leveno to date).

So Joey zigged while others zagged. Here's how he made this tremendous impact:

• Strategized how to draw the most attenti

time and discuss how wonderful I feel, or I could use it for something productive."

In making that decision, Cheek generated a flood of interest in Right to Play (shown in a huge upswing in website hits), and a total (as of today) of $300,000 in donations (including his and those from sponsors Nike, Gap, Jet Set and Leveno to date).

So Joey zigged while others zagged. Here's how he made this tremendous impact:

• Strategized how to draw the most attention to a cause that is personally meaningful (and showed great personal generosity in doing so), rather than just making the donation privately. • Did the unexpected in talking about Right to Play, donating his bonuses, and challenging sponsors to join him. • Established himself as credible – in sharing the story of his personal experience with Right to Play – a model of citizenship, and intelligence (particularly significant in this cadre of what the New York Times calls "showboating, self-absorbed" US Olympians). Cheek is now a credible philanthropist, following the model of Right to Play founder Johann Koss (a former speed skater himself), who has motivated fellow athletes to join him through his personal reputation and his understanding of what's important to his athlete colleagues.

It was Koss – a triple gold medalist in 1994 – who inspired Cheek to go from in-line skating to speed skating.

• Detailed a clear and specific call to action, in challenging Olympic sponsors to join him in supporting the organization. • Inspired others to do the same, as is evidenced by the upsurge in donations and visits to the Right to Play website. It's likely that Cheek's impact will spill over into motivating athletes, Olympic and otherwise, who are Olympic fans, to volunteer with Right to Play.

Already, Canadian speed skater and gold medalist Clara Hughes, a long-time Right to Play volunteer, has cited Cheek as her inspiration in donating $10,000 of her prize money to Right to Play, and challenging fellow Canadian Olympians to give. You can see her Right to Play fundraising page here: http://www.righttoplay.com/site/TR?px=1074046&pg=personal&fr_id=1040

Right to Play was poised to capture the upsurge of interest, with its kiosk in