You may not be able to emulate McDonald's level of success
, but you can use charity event planning and other forms of publicity to help yourself while helping the world. It never hurts to be a philanthropist; many business people believe, in fact, that it's necessary to give back to the community. Some do it because it makes them feel good; some do it because it's good karma. If you can tie it in with increased success for your business, you've got the best of both worlds. But let me caution you: don't be a nut for publicity. It's been said that there's no such thing as bad publicity, but tell that to Enron and AIG. Also, unless it just makes you feel good, never stack up publicity for no good reason. There's no real point in being a celebrity if people aren't going to give you money.