The grantLOVE website was updated today and there are a few noticeable changes.
All of the Produced in Germany items (where no funds were going to charity) have now been removed. These items were discussed in my List of Items and Profit Distribution post as well as my very recent The Web of Lies Continues post. I actually screen captured these items in the Web of Lies Continues post and posted the links. The links now give a 404 error but the screen captures live on for posterity (and as evidence).
Now, when you look up items under apparel, there is a banner that appears above all the displayed items that states, "Shop apparel that benefits artist projects and arts non-profits". See below.
If this is an attempt at cleaning things up on the website, it is a really poor attempt. Unfortunately, this statement implies that there is apparel, has been apparel, will be apparel for sale on the website that do not, have not, will not benefit artist projects and arts non-profits. By trying to correct mistakes they've done in the past they are giving indications that the mistakes are still present. Who knows? Maybe they are and I haven't found them yet?
If you move on to the Prints section of the website, you get a similar banner/disclaimer. This one states "these prints benefit artist projects and arts non-profits". Again, by saying "these prints" they are implying that there are prints, have been prints or will be prints that won't benefit artist projects and arts non-profits.
A better choice would have been to say that all prints sold on the grantLOVE website will benefit artist projects and arts non-profits. THAT IS A CLEAR AND UNAMBIGUOUS STATEMENT. Those kinds of statements are rare on the grantLOVE website, but they are present.
Case in point, more new stuff on the website...
The person above is a new collaborator with grantLOVE Project making tote bags from upcycled materials. These new bags, as of today, are now on sale on the website (below). Notice, in the About grantLOVE Collaborations, how it states that "EACH grantLOVE ARTWORK AND PRODUCT BENEFITS AN ARTIST PROJECT, ARTS EDUCATION ORGANIZATION (arts education organization is not in their mission statement BTW), OR ARTS NONPROFIT." That is a clear and unambiguous statement. And, sure enough, the same banner/disclaimer that was made above the Prints page is now made above the listed items on the bags page.
Well... at least she is being consistent now. Or is she?
This collaborator is a professional quilter. There are currently two of her quilts for sale on the grantLOVE website. One benefits charity, the other does not.
Both these quilts are listed under the Home Goods section. Notice there is no banner/disclaimer above the listed items for this section. Hmm... Perhaps grantLOVE Project is aware that one of the items listed in this section is not benefiting charity and, as such, they do not want to make any blatantly false statements here? As such, they've omitted the banner/disclaimer in order to obfuscate the fact that there is an item in this section that will not benefit charity in any way. They opted to be misleading, rather that overtly lie.
Given this information, lets go back and have a closer look at those newly listed bags... Aha!! None of the listed bags mention charity in any way (below).
I don't believe this is an "accident." You don't spend precious time working on new listings and then "forget " to mention charity in any way on each of the various items? This is not an oversight. They are being deliberately misleading with their banner/disclaimer.
If grantLOVE Project openly declared that a fixed percentage of the profits of every item sold on the website benefited a specific charity, there would be no need for them to list these facts with every item. But, because the portion donated and the beneficiaries are variable throughout the website, this means that EVERY ITEM SHOULD HAVE THE CHARITY LISTED AS WELL AS WHAT PORTION OF THE PROFITS ARE GOING TO CHARITY. THIS SHOULD BE CONSISTENT THROUGHOUT THE WEBSITE. THERE IS NO CONSISTENCY AT ALL. THERE ARE ONLY ATTEMPTS AT OBSCURING THE TRUTH ABOUT WHERE THESE FUNDS ARE GOING.
In Summary:
They've removed 7 items (produced in Germany) that had no mention of charity, added 4 items (produced in the Netherlands) with no mention of charity and, threw in some meaningless (and misleading) statements for good measure.
Like I said earlier, if they are trying to clean up their act and make it appear like they are on the up and up, they are doing a very poor job of it. If you are going to do it, commit to it completely and be transparent about it. Be clear and make unambiguous statements. These careless attempts are just not good enough. Also, there is absolutely nothing you can do that will correct the transgressions of the past. What's done is done and much of it has been documented.
Also, as stated in my previous post (Where, Oh Where, Do the Charitable Funds Go?), one cannot make the assumption that because a banner says that the items in question will benefit charity that this will actually be the case. Loopholes are all the rage here. Beware and be aware...
