Airbnb donation: should host and employee lives matter as much?

[Inna22]

It goes without saying that what happened to George Floyd is despicable and this thread is not about that. The question is: should a company that cannot meet contractual obligations to its partners (hosts of colors and backgrounds) and just laid off 1900 humans be giving a half a million dollar donation, no matter how worthy the cause is. For those not aware- Airbnb announced .5 mil dollar donation to Black lives matter

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie  Inna didn't write 5 million- she wrote .5 million, which is what 500,000 is.

And while I believe in supporting this cause, it's absolutely tone-deaf for Airbnb to make this donation at this time, when hosts are hurting big time from all their COVID cancellations and in many places, complete inability to host at all. And how does Airbnb have this money to give away, when they have downsized customer support because they supposedly couldn't afford to keep that much staff on, and supposedly didn't have enough funds to issue grants to eligible Superhosts? 

Now that Airbnb is issuing full refunds to guests in contravention of the hosts' cancellation policies, without any documentation to support applying the EC, leaving the hosts with nothing, and Airbnb with the guest's money, issuing them vouchers instead, this is an even uglier optic.

The laying off of 1900 employees has resulted in hosts and guests receiving abyssmal customer service- messages go unanswered, phone waits are hours long, no one ever gets back to you, as promised. Messages marked as URGENT are ignored for a week or more. The platform is rife with tech glitches which don't get fixed.

Other billionaires have been contributing to worthy causes out of their own pockets- If Mr. Chesky wants to contribute, he should do it privately, not out of Airbnb coffers. It would still be good optics for him, and not infuriate the hosts he claims to, but obviously does not, value.

If Airbnb has a spare half a million laying around, they should use it to upgrade their services for their users, who are the ones who put that money in their coffers to start with. 

[Maxine33]

I wonder if it was a corporate donation or a personal donation from Airbnb's leadership?  I agree with @Sarah977 that giving away $500K, no matter how worth the cause, is truly not reading the room.  Especially when you could have applied that same amount of money to keep some people in jobs.

Airbnb is a great platform and I am grateful for the venue but the optics are not good here.  

So many people are hurting around the world right now. I look forward to the day when we have less turmoil.  

[Petrina3]

yep

[Inna22]

@Sarah977 as always, so well said

[Ben3482]

Wow well said! Spot on. 

[Alexandra199]

My goodness....I dont think i could AGREE with this message more! Absolutely correct and eloquently written.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

Folks,

Airbnb is not some altruistic foundation dedicated to their hosts and/or guests. They are a business who can do, within the law, whatever they like with their money.

Now of course if they break the terms of their agreement, misusing the EC policy and give away hosts money to guests then that is not acceptable - Of course thats a whole different argument.

[Sarah977]

@Mike-And-Jane0  By making this donation, Airbnb is indeed trying to portray itself as an altruistic foundation.

[Sharon668]

Airbnb are asking for donations. “We appreciate your support of the movement and our ongoing fight to end state-sanctioned violence, liberate Black people and end white supremacy forever”

[Dimitar27]

It was in my news feed today:

https://www.prweek.com/article/1684870/26-brands-leaders-speaking-black-community

I can't see where is the drama. Probably because I live in a country without black people. They are very, very small minority- probably less then 1000 are permanent residents.

[Dave52]

Airbnb's donation is a false front to portray themselves as a "woke" corporation. I know for a fact Airbnb themselves practices discrimination.  Question: how many black managers and executives at airbnb corporate?  How many black people on their BOD?  Has Brian Chesky made it his number one priority to have equal representation within his own company?  Please let us know.

[Anonymous]

@Inna22  Last year, Airbnb spent roughly $2 billion on sales and marketing. In the wake of this year's downturn, they publicly announced an $800 million cut to their advertising budget. On the scale of these numbers, half a million is really no big whoop. 

I bring this up in terms of advertising because there are basically two kinds of donations made by corporations:  the quiet ones that don't come with a press release (basically lobbying money) and loud ones like this, which function as marketing. Neither really represents a net loss when you consider what that donation buys. Donations that are connected to major events in the news cycle guarantee the brand far more media coverage than a conventional ad spend would generate, and even more so when they're controversial enough to bait pundits into covering them. They punch above their weight when they cement the notion that the brand has values and personality. Big ticket donations can also project confidence as a counterweight to speculations that the company is going underwater. 

There's no precise way to quantify the value that a donation like this adds to the brand, but if people around the world are arguing about it I'd say that value is well over $500,000. Unfortunately, it's harder to make the case that big investments in improving, say, customer service has a similar payoff in terms of branding. 

[Verlean1]

A quick Google search of “riots in America” will show that Americans (especially white ones) riot. About football games, baseball games, coaches getting fired, pumpkin festivals, hockey games, basketball games, black independence (see Tulsa, Rosewood, Elaine, etc.) & even surf competitions (I know...crazy). We also riot about race which, interestingly enough, is a social construct upon which this nation (that riots) was built.

Generally speaking...

*Note my use of an introductory phrase intended to avoid sweeping statements because people looking to disagree with me will get stuck there.*

...the white community doesn’t feel compelled to riot about black-on-white crime. This is because “justice” tends to be swift & unwavering in most...

*Note my use of an indefinite pronoun to clarify that it’s not “all” cases because people looking to disagree with me will get stuck there.*

...of those cases.

If you’re looking for a reason to remain silent or to continue to do what you’ve always done (nothing) & think what you’ve always thought then, sure, choose the violent protests as your reason. Or choose the innumerable nonviolent protests that preceded it. Or choose the timing of the protests. Or choose the faces of the protest. Or choose the location of the protest. Or choose what triggered the protest. Whatever works for you.

Because if you’re afraid to DO something or not interested in doing anything, any old excuse will do.

[Helen350]

In the UK @Verlean1 , people who wish to remain civilized WRITE to their Member of Parliament, with their concerns........... People who riot, - I've no sympathy, once they start rioting, doesn't matter what their cause is; Rioting is VERY BAD BEHAVIOUR!

[Sarah977]

@Helen350  The people who are rioting and looting aren't the people who are protesting police brutality and racism against blacks- the serious protesters are the ones who are doing their utmost to keep the protests peaceful. There are always people who look for any excuse to create mayhem and kick people in the head, and destroy things. Those people have no agenda- they are just violent yahoos.

What about writing to elected representatives hasn't worked are you unclear on? People have, by the tens or hundreds of thousands. If it had worked, there would be no need for demonstrations.