How to donate part of my business sales to a charity?

[Kyriakos Collas]

I am a designer who runs a virtual store in the marketplace. I plan to donate partial proceeds of the sales of my stuff to a charity on a permanent basis. I am thinking of Doctors without Borders but I have not made a final decision yet. What is the best system to do this? Also, how can I be totally transparent to my customers providing them a proof of the donation and, how do I go about doing this? At first I was thinking it is not really necessary my customers to know about that. However I feel if I were a customer and some part of my L's would be donated to a charity as well, I would be really happy if I was aware of it. I would demand though a reliable proof of what the merchant would state regarding this donation. I have no idea how to move on with that so any help would be deeply appreciated!

Thank you in advance for any ideas about this matter.

 

[Irene Muni]

When I've done in the past the same thing you want to do, I published periodically in my blog/forum the receipts (scanned) showing the donation to DWB or any other organization with a biref explanation about L$ received, sell in LindeX, etc.

I guess there are other systems, of course, but this system worked for me.

[valerie Inshan]

Congratulations for your generous project Kyriakos. :smileyhappy: I don't doubt others will come with accurate replies to your answer. I just wanted to give you this link about charity in Second Life for an overview of the subject:

http://virtual-economy.org/2010/10/02/sharing_in_second_life_charity/

The following paragraphs seem to be interesting as to how you could proceed.

"While many residents give generously on their own and without expectations, there are also charitable efforts in Second Life that are based around more reciprocal arrangements where virtual goods also come into play. Because virtual goods do not usually have many associated material costs, it also very common to find items donated for charitable causes and then either given away to donors or sold so that profits can be donated.

Offering goods is an established technique for generating charitable income in three interrelated ways. First, the act of giving something away – a flower, perhaps, or return stickers for addressing envelopes – generates a sense of expected reciprocity. This tactic can make the recipient more likely to feel that they owe something in return for the small gift they have been given. Second, getting something in return for a donation is rewarding for those who are giving. This is the model frequently adopted in fundraising drives of public television stations as well as by charities who based their fundraising efforts on reciprocal arrangements. Receiving a tote bag, CD, or pin as recognition for making a donation is an attractive way to encourage giving by allowing the giver to receive something in return. Finally, releasing specially created items for purchase with proceeds going to charity is an effective way to generate funds. With goods available for purchase, residents can go about their normal consumption activities while still supporting charitable works.

Generally speaking, it is the latter two models that seem to arise most frequently in Second Life, especially with regards to some of the larger fundraising events. Given the extremely high quality and established generosity of many Second Life designers, there is no shortage of donated goods available on which to base charitable efforts. Furthermore, because they are virtual, there are few, if any, costs required to create a large number of whatever goods are offered for sale. At the same time, by offering goods to individuals in exchange for their Lindens, those who support charities with their purchases also get something of their own choice in return."

Once you have made up your mind on which charity you choose to support, you'd have to approach them in RL to expose your project and see how you could possibly collaborate (using their logo, mention their name in your store, setting a link to their website in your profile...) I would assume you would also have to speak to Linden Lab to make sure naming the charity does not violate the ToS. I would suggest you do that in writing to:

Linden Lab Headquarters

945 Battery Street
San Francisco, CA 94111

Phone: +1 (415) 243-9000
Fax: 415.243.9045

Congrats again and good luck! :smileyhappy: