Millions and millions

If I had a very large amount of cash I would buy some stuff, give a bit away, and then I would do these things:

• start a foundation which commissioned very short films, 30-60 seconds long, and then bought prime-time TV advertising space to show them in. These films would be of three different types, in roughly equal proportions: films to undermine the consumerist message of most adverts; films to make people think about stuff, any stuff; and films which would randomly cheer people up. Ideally the latter category would include a) jazz hands b) lots of people tap-dancing in unison c) baby animals learning to stand up!
• start another foundation which gave people money for good projects they'd come up with for learning or research, on condition that they did not publish a book at the end. If they felt they had to write a book the money would be forfeit unless they self-published and paid for their own review copies. Then it would be grudgingly allowed.
  
• start a further foundation which paid people to spend an hour or so at a time wandering around city centres asking people, very politely, for directions to places which are not very far away and easy to point out. This would make those who gave said directions feel like nice people and give their day a tinge of pleasantness. I have noticed that in Devon the constant need for one car or another to reverse in the narrow lanes results not in aggravation and jostling but in a little exchange of courtesies which makes everyone feel better and more civilised, and this is the best way I could think of to try to replicate that in a city environment.
  
• start some sort of institution which took good-natured and patient donkeys into urban settings and charged people 20p a time to pet them. The money would go to charity but really it would be an excuse to get more people petting donkeys. Donkeys are very hard to resist, but when does one get the opportunity? They're all tucked away in sanctuaries. Ideally this scheme could be expanded to include further animals, perhaps elephants, birds of prey, retired police horses, etc.