Sweet Seeds: Zynga Raises $500K In Two Days To Build School In Haiti

Leena Rao

Leena Rao is currently a Senior Editor for TechCrunch. She recently finished graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she studied business journalism and videography. From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney’s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City. She graduated from Columbia University in 2003, where she was... → Learn More

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

In two days, Zynga has hit the $500k mark in a charity campaign that launched late Sunday on FarmVille for the “L’Ecole de Choix,” a K-12 school the gaming giant is building in Mirebalais, Haiti.

Farmville players can donate money directly by purchasing Sweet Seeds for a special beet that won’t wither. In addition, Zynga is making a corporate donation if players reach a community goal. Every FarmVille player was given a Haiti Backpack, and players can exchange School Supplies (free gifts) to fill the backpack.

If players exchange 400 million gifts, Zynga will donate $100K to the charity, in addition to the funds donated for the Sweet Seeds. So far, the initiative has resulted in 200 million gifts exchanged. Zynga is donating 100 percent of the proceeds for this campaign to the school, and Facebook has also agreed to donate their Facebook Credits fees as well.

It’s an impressive amount of money to raise (not to mention interactions) in such a short time. Zynga says that this is one of the most popular campaigns the company has ever run, second only to its Earthquake Relief Campaign, which raised over $1 million in five days on Farmville. Zynga’s fundraising goal is is to generate enough donations to complete building the school and provide 1 year of operating funds. The campaign for the next 10-14 days depending on how much money players are able to raise.

Company: Zynga
Website: zynga.com
Launch Date: July 2007
IPO: NASDAQ:ZNGA

Zynga was founded in July 2007 by Mark Pincus and is named for his late American Bulldog, Zinga. Loyal and spirited, Zinga’s name is a nod to a legendary African warrior queen. The early supporting founding team included Eric Schiermeyer, Michael Luxton, Justin Waldron, Kyle Stewart, Scott Dale, John Doerr, Steve Schoettler, Kevin Hagan, and Andrew Trader. Zynga’s mission is connecting the world through games. Everyday millions of people interact with their friends and express their unique personalities through our...

→ Learn more

blog comments powered by Disqus