Virtual World Philanthropy

Randal Moss of the American Cancer Society is actively interested in ideas about encouraging philanthropy within virtual worlds, and about using virtual worlds in the ACS's fundraising activities. Below the fold is the announcement about how the ACS is expanding its presence within Second Life. It's obviously a great organization and a great idea, so I recommend it to you.

Apart from providing the announcement the ACS is interested in feedback about how it might use VWs in its fundraising generally, and so it (and we) welcomes feedback in the usual way below. One idea that was mentioned is a kind of "estate bequest" for those leaving their favorite game and donating the RMT profits to the ACS.

God knows what the devs would say about that.

Other information can be found at Randy's blog and updates will be posted there in the coming weeks and months.

[Update 12:16pm: Forgot the URL. Go here for more info]

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The American Cancer Society, building off of its success with the first virtual Relay For Life in Second Life, is expanding its community presence in the virtual world in 2006. The Society has plans to purchase an Island and create a center for ACS related activities. The goal of the Virtual ACS Office is to provide the residents of SL with cancer related programs ad services including education sessions, peer support groups, advocacy activities and fund-raising opportunities. The goal is to engage the residents of SL in the same way that we would engage any community. Our proposed time-line is to have this Virtual Office constructed and running by the beginning of summer 2006 to coincide with our second annual Relay For Life.

The Relay planning committee is already working on ways to improve the event for the residents. In the 2006 Relay there will be opportunities for team fund-raising, and sponsorship fund-raising. We look forward to more people waking the track, more fantastic campsites, and more interactive activities. As the only virtual walk-a-thon we are actively looking for ways to draw on the benefits of holding this type of event in a virtual world. We are open to ideas and suggestions from Terra Nova readers and hope to post updates here throughout 2006.

Randal Moss
American Cancer Society
Futuring and Innovation Center
404-329-7573
[email protected]

Comments

[Mike "Salvator" Sherman]

1.

As Penny Arcade's Child's Play program has proven, gamers are more than willing to give to charity. A foray into Virtual Worlds, with enough publicity, will allow a low cost way for charities to get the money they deserve.

[Dan S]

2.

The way to make this really pay off for charities is for players to be able to contribute IN game using game funds. Of course, that opens the whole can'o'worms of RMT.

[Chip Hinshaw]

3.

At first I was a little skeptical about this, as I prefer my VW's as an escape from EVERYTHING that is RL (as "unpossible" as that may be). However, it's hard to be a cold, uncaring jerk when faced with good causes such as the ACS. Also, if advertisers are to start (have started?) infiltrating our virtual retreats, then why not?

[SeaRaptor]

4.

I think a lot of people prefer their gaming as an escape from reality, but there are times that it cannot help but intrude.

One of the first friends I made playing Star Wars Galaxies died of leukemia less than a year later. She was a dynamic, well-known, and well-respected member of the Tempest server community; a great many of us did not even know she was fighting the disease for many months after meeting her. She left the game, and it was months before any of us knew for certain she was gone. Kate was a very proud person who didn't want anyone's sympathy, only their friendship.

Those of us who knew her best organized an in-game fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It was an auction held on the Tempest server in Galaxies, with the items being auctioned all donated by players on that server. Auction credits were earned by giving a charitable donation to the society. We raised over $13,000 for the society, and had a lot of support from them (one of my guildmates was on the board for the Nebraska chapter of the LLS).

It's been my experience that gamers are some of the most charitable and giving people around. I applaud the ACS for recognizing that.

[Betsy Book]

5.

The first SLRFL rocked. I look forward to the next one.

When group sign-up is enabled for this year's event maybe we can have a Terra Nova group?

[Prokofy Neva]

6.

Currently, the model the American Cancer Society is using is one that will likely limit participation and therefore limit funds raised (as it did the first time). They are taking a group of 4 or so Linden sims owned by Governor Linden, and in a very controlled fashion, putting a relay up with space available for a building contest or sponsorship on spaces that the few organizers control invitation/access to.

They chose this highly-controlled set-up to be able to address the SL problems of griefing, the look of the builds, whatever.

I've mentioned that by having more of a "March of Dimes" type of approach where people move all over SL, getting sponsorship from a wide variety of businesses and residences from people highly motivated to have avatars traffic across their land, they can gain more participation. People help raise money often when they see that they themselves can benefit from it, i.e. if nothing else, than to have others come and see their builds, or also purchase from them. In any U.S. city, that's how you can get the city fathers and merchants to participate in giant walks like these for fund-raising causes, because the promotion of the city itself and the business can offset clean-up costs.

ACS rejects that model because it would be unpredictable and controlled. And indeed, most fund-raising efforts in SL remain very small and limited because they depend on high-profile, controlled events, often with a group-only piece of land requiring people to join a group to gain access to land that can only hold 40 or 160 avatars at a time.

By coming up with a model that enables people to participate without having to go to a controlled area or seek membership in a group or fight lag from a filled server, charities will get more participation. It means that they might have to go with a series of more low-impact events scattered over the grid more than go with some big high-profile event that gets them media coverage for doing some kewl thing in a virtual world, but only has 40 or 160 people participating in it.

One possibility, even with the high-profile/controlled event space model, is to have people agree to deploy an advertising kiosk for their event on their own properties.

I'm also thinking that charities can't be expected to keep getting the Lindens to drop down advertising in the Message of the Day for all these events -- avatars are going to get compassion fatigue. The charities will have to work with the inworld controlled/state/ as well as independent and free media to get their messages across, and also organize compelling events. After all, most people being nabbed in a virtual world are going to say to a charity, "I already gave at the office."