Charity via Farmville

I came across something interesting while cruising the internet today. While reading an article about Zynga (the company behind Farmville, Cityville, etc.), I discovered that this company does more than just create hopelessly addicted gamers on facebook.

Zynga apparently uses their games to gather donations for charities. According to AFP, that amount exceeds $5 million. Most recently, Zynga sought to aid the relief efforts being aimed at the tragedy in Japan. Donations were gathered via user purchases of virtual goods in games such as Farmville. In just 36 hours, Zynga raised $1 million for Save The Children’s Japan relief efforts. This fund raising model also contributed $1.5 million to the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti last year.

I’m not a fan of Zynga’s games, but I appreciate how well they’ve been able to integrate charity fundraising into their business model. Given how easy it is for them to gather donations for good causes, they should keep that foot forward in the future and continue their philanthropic efforts. It’s good PR for them and it makes a difference to those in need.