Mercy Corps Partners with New Gaming Website GamesThatGive

Partnership will allow online gamers to help improve people’s lives while playing Solitaire, Soduku and other favorites

September 28, 2009

Portland, OR – The global relief and development agency Mercy Corps today announced that it will be one of the initial charity partners of GamesThatGive, a new charitable giving website. GamesThatGive allows users to play some of their favorite casual video games online, including Solitaire, Soduku and Gems, for free, while raising money to support charitable causes in the process. The site is available at gamesthatgive.net.

"GamesThatGive is one of the strongest fundraising ideas we've seen in a long time," says Mercy Corps Internet Marketing Director Jacob Colie. "We're hoping that this becomes an important new way for people to support our work without having to whip out their credit card."

“We are thrilled to give people an easy and fun outlet to support the important work that Mercy Corps does around the world,” says GamesThatGive Principal Evangelist Brian Reich. “We are confident that anyone who enjoys playing games online, along with people who are just looking for new ways to support terrific charities like Mercy Corps, will enthusiastically take advantage of the chance to log on and play.”

GamesThatGive, which launched in July as a beta, allows users to select a charity of their choice and a game to play online. Donations are generated through the amount of time users spend playing the game and performance bonuses. The donations are generated through advertising, and seventy percent of all advertising revenue goes directly to the partner charities. While they play, users can see a live tally of the total dollars raised, and links to the chosen charity allow users to learn more. Other charity partners of GamesThatGive include the United Way, the American Heart Association and Feeding America.

This partnership with GamesThatGive is the newest in a series of innovative online giving collaborations for Mercy Corps, which has also partnered with The HungerSite and Kiva, to offer donors new ways to support its work.