The Virtual Village

When you visit the Unwrapped Virtual Village, you are given three different villages to help:

Hovering your mouse over one of the villages in the circles gives you a dexcription of what issues face that village and how you can help.  Clicking on one transports you to the village where you can click on items throughout the area that can help the local village members.

Clicking on one of the dots lets you see what it is with more detail and to “get the item” for the village.  So far, the experience has been like that of an educational game: finding and helping but also learning the real world side of it all.  Once you click on “get the item” though, you are give the opportunity to move from playing a realistic or educational game to actually buying an item and supporting the village in real life.

You can now click to get the item for the village in the game, or you can buy the item as gift via Oxfam.  What I like most is that the educational side of the scenario doesn’t stop: you’re given a case study about how, in this example, solar panels are actually impacting the lives of others.

It is really important to me that organizations continue to educate their supporters about the work they are doing as well as how they as an organization as well as the supporters are helping and positively impacting the service areas.

Telling stories of impact comes both from the organization as well as from those supported…and even comes from those who support you!

A Little Story

I have a very close friend who came to me with a “problem” a couple holiday seasons ago.  The problem was that her family was very excited about doing something for the holidays that was going to really impact people around the world who were struggling more than they were and that they were really excited about an opportunity they had heard about to buy a goat from Scotland that would be taken to a village or a family in Africa.  She was thrilled that her family was excited to be philanthropic and support others, but she felt like they had made their decision of how to help without investing any time or due diligence into who they were helping and if what they were doing was really something needed.

She challenged them to investigate other options, who they wanted to help, and what could really do the most for them with the amount they had to donate or invest.  It turned out that they did not end up purchasing a goat from Scotland.

This story isn’t to say that people should stop funding or supporting programs that deliver livestock to needy areas, not in the least!  The lesson here to be sure you are educated about the impact you want to make and how best to make it.

I think Oxfam’s Unwrapped Virtual Village is a fun way to get the whole family involved in investigating and learning about issues in other parts of the world and choosing the gifts that they care about and know will also make a good impact.

What do you think?

Network for Good has a unique approach to all of the holiday gift donations: the Good Card.

The Good Card is like giving a gift certificate to Whole Foods, or whichever grocery store you like to visit. There are many great things to choose from and you may not usually treat yourself to spending money on more expensive, organic, or specialty foods. But with a gift card, you have all the selection AND it’s already been paid for. The Good Card lets the recipient choose the organization they would like to support without having to set aside their own funds to do so.

It takes out the grudges people hold for receiving certificates indicating money was donated in their name to an organization they don’t know or don’t want to support and keeps the good will in tact!

Check out Network for Good’s Good Card and get some holiday shopping out of the way!

Beth posts a great compilation of ideas about encouraging philanthropy with children as this is a pretty perfect time of year to shed light on the importance of giving.

Have you provided donations to charities as gifts in the past? Do you think a system like the Good Card will bring more people to the donation-as-gift arena? Do you think the Good Card or other holiday donation activities are a good way to involve your children in giving?