The Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy

If you were walking through the pouring rain and someone offered you an umbrella, would you accept it or assume it was some sort of weird scam? If you said you would take it and you live in a big city, then you're probably in the minority. That's what David Ibnale discovered when he tried to provide San Franciscans with free umbrellas in the middle of a downpour:

"People thought there was something fishy about it," Ibnale said. "There wasn't. It was just free umbrellas."

David received funds for his umbrella giveaway from the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy, a new Bay Area charity dedicated to getting people to do nice things for other people. The charity gives out $100 awards every year to people who propose to help strangers in a unique manner.

Other recipients of the cash awards this year tried to give money to others as long as they promised to give it to someone else, bought drinks for an entire bar, and sent candy to students studying in South America. The mother of the charity's founder broke her $100 into quarters and scattered the change around the playground of an elementary school.

What would you do if you could have $100 to brighten the world?

[Image courtesy of Flickr user anna_t.]