Maybe some help for charitable cause??

Hi all,

What do you think of SL's potential as a resource for non-profit fundraising? Is there room in the pervasive pure capitalist SL ethos for a bit of charity? Is it even possible for the SL "Invisible Hand" to reach out to do some good in real life?

Last Weekend many of my new SL friends helped me raise some money in SL for a wonderful young family in RL who lost everything to a fire last week and are now homeless and virtually broke at Christmas. Their friends raised money all weekend and I did part of that here in SL.

Each year at Christmas, this family adopts two or three less fortunate families. I joined this tradition a few years ago and am now busily raising funds and collecting gifts to make sure those families we are helping this year do not lose out.

My fundraising ideas included some in Second Life. I found info about success the Cancer Society had and even some more personal efforts. Many people in SL evince big hearts and a wonderful sense of community. As with so many things, SL offers endless conceptual possibilities for this activity, and the chance of endless disappointment.

I know a number of non-profits interested in SL for this purpose. They have yet to make the effort because there's so little data to support its success (as far as I know). So far, my meager SL fundraising efforts have not been successful enough to justify taking time away from the RL work. But I am still very much a newbie, and entered SL for far different reasons.

So I am trying to tap into the collective experience of fellow residents. Perhaps you can share your ideas, experiences, thoughts, guidance, resources. Whatever? Please help!

My personal feelings are two-fold here. On one hand, I'm playing a game to get away from Rl and all of it's problems. On the other hand, it's not a bad thing for an occasional reminder that some things are more important than new prim shoes.

Personal feelings aside, I would probably donate to similar charities in-game that I do IRL. The only problem is with some sort of verification so I'd know the money is actually going where it's supposed to.

There have been lots of successful fund-raising charity efforts in SL - both official and unofficial - on all kinds of scales.

The main problem that fund-raisers face is establishing some level of credibility; it's best if you can get verifiable acknowledgement of your efforts from the charity concerned ... for example, the relay for life stuff, and stand up for poverty campaigns were well-publicised on the respective real-world websites. If the non-profits that you're talking about also have established, real-world web sites on which they can mention their SL campaigns, then the trust/credibility problem is largely solved.

When you're running a more "personal" campaign, it's a little trickier. Many people in SL seem happy to trust established content-creators, or other "famous" SL persons with charitable donations.... but lesser well-known avatars can be met with suspicion - how would a potential donator be reassured that you're going to convert their lindens to a real-world donation? That's the challenge you face.

If anything, doing charity work is a little easier for those in SL since you can create something with no personal expenditure except your time, and sell those.

That gives 100% of the funds you gather to be able to be donated to the charitable cause.

One thing I do not like about charitable donations in the game world is just asking people to fork out for no benefit to themselves, just on the basis that 'its for charity' - quite simple because your work on the internet is all but anonymous, and theres no guarantee that the money you donate will reach the eventual destination the giver hopes it will.

Ultimately in my opinion, make something to sell, dedicate your time to it, and feel free to advertise the fact that its for a charitable cause, but make sure that the person who donates has some form of momento for the donation, because it costs next to nothing to do, and shows that you're as dedicated to the charitable act as you should be, and not just wanting people to put their hands in their pockets with no further comeback on it.

i think the potentional is incredible, i have been fortunate enough to have been involved with Relay for Life, Stand up Against Poverty, Katrina Relief, raiseing funds for animals left homeless by Katrina, and several personal fund raisers and have seen the incredible generosity of the residents of SL. As Shep said, the most important part, is establishing credibility, and this can be difficult. I will echo the statement to have any RL organizations post their support for teh SL efforts on as many places as they can, listing if possible the SL name of their chosen coordinator. The oppertunity to reach people who would not otherwise be likely to donate is staggering, people feel like they are just giving play money , so they donate.

hehe wow, i just read this post and it rambles, and really contributes nothing useful, but if you would like to contact me inworld i would be happy to give you some suggestions.

YES.

I feel that where we buy and sell for real money, there is a place for charity too. You have no right to push your advertisements or education attempts on other people (who might have better things to do, or might be in-world only for escapism), of course, but that's not really different from the fact that you do not have the right to be obnoxious in RL either.

I Know how excited you get my clio, but you Have been Involved in SL Fundraising for RL Charities, so your experience IS helpful. I was Pleased to Donate about Ten Thousand over time to one of them. I think you told me that effort raised about $30,000 USD all told. So, Yes, the Potential IS here, but as clio observes "the most important part, is establishing credibility" I would NOT have donated One Linden had i had Any doubt what-so-ever that the effort that the effort was a Genuine one. The residents of SL i think, ar too used to people trying them on for Various scams, so Make Sure, IF you are setting up a Real Charitable effort, that you are doing so with some Verifiable authority.

and clio, Keep being the Generous, Hard working girl i have come to Love.

Angel.