The World at Work is powered by GE. This new series highlights the people, projects and startups that are driving innovation and making the world a better place.
Name: WeTopia
Big Idea: The WeTopia social game on Facebook turns players? points into monetary donations for children?s charity projects.
Why It?s Working: WeTopia takes popular social gaming fundamentals proven enormously successful on Facebook and introduces an element of philanthropy to help users game for good. The company has also donated 50% of its profits to charities for children.
Sojo Studios wants to democratize philanthropy, and it has tapped into the enormous social gaming population ? which is expected to reach 68.7 million players by year?s end according to a report by analysis firm eMarketer ? to do just that.
The company?s WeTopia, a free Facebook game that turns players? points into monetary donations for children?s charities, has roped in 800,000 players since November and is already impacting the world offline. By the end of May, players? in-game actions will have accomplished the following:
- Built two schools for more than 400 children.
- Funded an after-school program in Kentucky and a mobile health clinic in New York.
- Donated 1 million gallons of water, 650,000 meals, 2,000 multi-vitamin doses, 2,500 shoes and 4,000 coats.
?We felt that if we could harness the power of millions of players already playing social games, and give them a way to work together and give back, it could change the landscape of gaming,? Lincoln Brown, founder and CEO of Sojo Studios, tells Mashable.
In the game, players control virtual villages by building homes, tending to crops and sometimes working with Facebook friends to advance to new levels or earn more ?JOY,? which are the points players use to donate to specific charitable projects in the real world. Players also can buy Facebook Credits to purchase virtual goods.
Sojo Studios, a privately-held company that generates revenue via advertisers and paid virtual goods in WeTopia, has donated 50% of its profits to 20 partnered charities and 501(c)(3) non-profits such as Action for Healthy Kids, buildOn, Save the Children, Children?s Health Fund and Stop Hunger Now.
The game?s social good component ? dubbed ?Play for Good? ? has attracted celebrity support from Ellen DeGeneres and Justin Bieber, in addition to nabbing advertising partnerships with Mattel and Clorox.
?The idea to ?Play for Good? is working because players have a positive reason to play social games ? they no longer feel guilty for spending their time gaming online,? Brown says. ?We are having a real impact in the lives of children around the world because of their efforts.?
Players can track the projects they?re helping by clicking on the ?Real Impact? tab within the game. There, they can a world map of the projects and statistics on donations (see image at left).
The idea for the game came after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which Brown saw as an opportunity to ?meaningfully disrupt philanthropy.?
?We wanted to create ways for small donors to support and engage with causes as part of their everyday lives, not as one-off donations where donors get little to no genuine transparency around their efforts,? Brown says.
Series presented by GE
The World at Work is powered by GE. GE Works focuses on the people who make the things that move, power, build and help to cure the world.
2012 ncaa basketball tournament walt what time is it current time a thousand words my sisters keeper kirby
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.