Social Ch@nge

We’ve written about games and non-profits on Social Ch@nge before (and here.)  Some more recent news from this front:

Electronic Arts (EA), the gaming behemoth, has entered into the fundraising world.  The Xbox live version of NHL ‘09 rewards players who raise $100 for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation by allowing them to compete in special online tournaments.  And if you do well in the tournament, and raise over $500, you get your digitized face plastered onto a grunting electronic hockey fan in the NHL ‘10 game.  The online didn’t quite raise as much as the Foundation hoped – but a related off-line event at the EA headquarters in British Columbia recently raised over $20,000.

So what should you make of real world fundraising, with in-game benefits?

Gamers, as a community, represent an interesting niche for non-profits.  They certainly are not a target group for every organisation.  But there clearly are ways to tap them.  For example, Child’s Play is an organisation that collects donations from gamers to help provide children in hospitals with toys and video games.  Since their formation in 2003, over 100,000 people have joined, and $3.5 million dollars in donations have been collected.

I think that there are a few aspects that makes “Child’s Play” work.  First, they appeal to gamers to give games – a nice alignment between donor and recipient.  In fact, they encourage the donors to pick specific gifts for the kids in the hospitals.  Next, they keep it manageable: donations came be processed through a variety of existing sites, and can be big or small.  Finally, they appeal to the sense of community among gamers: despite huge geographic differences, Child’s Play taps into the common interest of this group.

And that’s the real story here: communities of support can be found in pretty unlikely places.  The Long Tail effect of the internet means that – even if you think your cause only appeals to a small niche – that niche might be bigger than you think.