SixDegrees.org

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title: "SixDegrees.org" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["organizations-established-in-2007", "charities-based-in-washington,-d.c.", "american-fundraising-websites"] description: "Charity led by actor, musician, and philanthropist Kevin Bacon" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SixDegrees.org" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Charity led by actor, musician, and philanthropist Kevin Bacon ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox organization"]

Field	Value
name	SixDegrees.org
logo	SixDegrees.org_logo.jpg
type	Nonprofit organization
founder	Kevin Bacon
formation
headquarters	Alexandria, Virginia, United States
website
::

| name = SixDegrees.org | logo = SixDegrees.org_logo.jpg | alt= Official SixDegrees.org logo | type = Nonprofit organization | founder = Kevin Bacon | formation = | headquarters = Alexandria, Virginia, United States | website = SixDegrees.org is a charity led by actor Kevin Bacon. Launched on January 18, 2007, the organization builds on the popularity of the "small world phenomenon" by enabling people to become "celebrities for their own causes" by donating to or raising money for any charity in the United States. In March 2014, the organization celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game by announcing plans to connect local changemakers with recognized celebrities through "drop-ins" and "shout-outs". Grassroots causes can submit events directly through the site and celebrities can contact the organization for help finding a cause anywhere in the world.

History

To launch SixDegrees.org, Bacon attended the opening weekend of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where he and other celebrities encouraged charitable giving. By 2010, when Bacon was honored for his charitable activities by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, SixDegrees.org had raised nearly $3 million. Speaking at a Make a Difference Day appearance in 2012, Bacon explained that he had initially disliked the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game when it first became popular, but later decided that he should make use of its popularity for something positive that would carry his personal brand, and he joked: "I didn't really like the sound of The Footloose Foundation." Bacon headquartered SixDegrees.org in Alexandria, Virginia. During the first three weeks, more than 87,000 dollars in donations were generated on the site.

Business model

Bacon was influenced to start SixDegrees.org because of a game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. This game was made up to link Kevin Bacon to another arbitrarily-chosen actor. In this game an actor is selected at random and in six connections or less this actor is linked to Kevin Bacon. Bacon realized he could do the same thing with charitable organizations. He used this ideology of linking celebrities to charities to create the business model of SixDegrees.org.

The mission of SixDegrees.org is social networking with social consciousness. The goal of SixDegrees.org is to use celebrities pre-existing social media platforms to gain exposure on charitable organizations within their communities.vmballestero, June 10, 2017 Kevin Bacon's goal is to encourage everyone to be a celebrity and start their own movement.

Success stories

Bacon matched the top six non-celebrity fundraisers with 10,000 dollars during SixDegrees.org's first year.

Notable projects

::data[format=table]

Notable Stars	Charity
Kyra Sedgwick	Natural Resources Defense Council
Ashley Judd	YouthAIDS Charity
Rosie O'Donnell	Rosie's for All Kids Foundation
Jessica Simpson	Operation Smile
Bradley Whitford and Jane Kaczmarek	Clothes off Your Back
::

References

References

1. Wieselman, Jarrett, [https://www.buzzfeed.com/jarettwieselman/kevin-bacon-six-degrees-of-separation-interview How Kevin Bacon Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon], [[BuzzFeed]]. March 8, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
2. January 18, 2007, press release from [http://www.networkforgood.org Network for Good]. [http://www.networkforgood.org/about/press/pressreleases/2007/01-18.aspx About Network for Good/].
3. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8441594.stm "Critics to honour Kevin Bacon for his charity work"], [[BBC News]], January 5, 2010.
4. [http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/kevin-bacon-we-are-all-connected-28739848.html "Kevin Bacon: We are all connected"], ''[[The Belfast Telegraph]]'', April 20, 2012.
5. [https://grist.org/article/six-degrees-of-charitable-donation/ Kevin Bacon launches SixDegrees.org], ''Grist'', June 10, 2007.
6. [https://www.biography.com/people/kevin-bacon-9542173 Kevin Bacon Biography.]
7. [http://www.sixdegrees.org/.org SixDegrees.Org], June 8, 2017
8. Press release: [https://www.networkforgood.org/downloads/pdf/press/releases/20070118_6d.pdf "Kevin bacon launches SixDegrees.org with celebrity friends to encourage giving"]. SixDegrees.org, January 18, 2007.
9. Other companies began to take notice of this generosity. The clothing company [[Hanesbrands. Hanes]] provided a 10,000-dollar grant to six charitable organizations that they found inspiring. These include Saving Georgia Dogs, Dachshund Rescue of North America Inc, Saving Shelter Pets Incorporated, Kat5 Animal Rescue Inc, Animal Action Rescue, and [[Maine People's Resource Center]].[http://sixdegreesdotorg.blogspot.com/ SixDegrees Blogspot], June 14, 2017.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::