When Avril Lavigne decided to launch a foundation aiding children with disabilities last year, she quickly learned that doing the right thing was going to be harder than she thought. "It's such a major deal," says Lavigne. "You have to have everything in place and have to have a really good team. It's very serious. Music comes naturally. I have to push myself when I get up and talk about this in a room."

Lavigne is one of a growing group of musicians — including Madonna, John Legend, Bono, Shakira and Wyclef Jean — who have set up charities and foundations to tackle issues from world hunger to inner-city education. "The relationship between a musician and their audience is far more powerful than the one between an actor and their audience," says Trevor Neilson, co-founder of the Global Philanthropy Group, which assists artists (including Lavigne, Legend and Shakira) with their charitable efforts. "A musician with a large fan base has an opportunity to mobilize people that might be more powerful than their opportunity to write checks."

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