Oprah hit it big last Sunday with her new philanthropic reality series “The Big Give.” Angelina Jolie has made more headlines for her recent op-ed piece on Iraq in the Washington Post than for her latest baby bump. Clearly, being a socially-conscious, conspicuously charitable celeb is going to continue to be the hot trend— possibly overtaking the tabloid trend of bad girl celebs making bad life choices in front of the camera, umm, constantly.
So, excluding heavyweights like Brangelina and Oprah, who are the most charitable and socially-conscious celebs? Here is my list of charitable celebs who have inspired me to be more generous. Be sure to leave yours in the comment box below!
5. Simon Cowell: That’s right, I said it. He has said in interviews he was deeply moved the last time “American Idol” became involved in charity with “American Idol Gives Back” and now this season of “Idol’ is going to do a similar special with Hollywood celebs like Reese Witherspoon and Mariah Carey joining in to make the world a better place.

4. Alicia Keys: She doesn’t receive nearly the press that other celebs do, but she has consistently been extremely active with fundraising for the African Aids crisis for quite some time.
3. Ellen DeGeneres: A mini version of Oprah, DeGeneres keeps the spotlight on New Orleans post-hurricane and has picked up where Rosie O’Donnell left off with having cool giveaways for viewers as well.
2. George Clooney: If he didn’t make an effort to keep a spotlight on the tragedy in Darfur, who would? When George talks, the U.N. at least pretends to listen.
1. Bono: You can’t take away from the fact that Bono was meeting with world leaders and raising millions of dollars long before it became fashionable. He doesn’t get as much press as he used to but he is the original rock ‘n roll crusader.