Farmville Farmers Help Haiti Again

Farmers in Farmville have stepped up again to support the Haiti Relief Fund. This is the second time in less than six months that the farmers have helped Haiti. In September 2009, Farmville launched its ‘Seeds for Haiti’ campaign offering the farmers the chance to buy special speeds which generated a ‘real world’ donation to Haiti. The effort last year raised an immense $700,000 for charity and now the farmers are back again to help.

The current donation effort has already raised over $1m for Haiti with farmers buying special seeds that offer good farm yield (you’ll understand if you are a farmer) as well as a donation to Haiti through the UN World Food Programme.

And its not just the farmers that are helping out, Zynga has rolled out the effort across 3 of its most popular games including MafiaWars and Zynga Poker. As part of this effort, Zynga will be donating 100% of the money raised, adding another donation option to the myriad of innovative ways already in action.

This latest effort from Zynga not only raised vital funds for Haiti but also acts as an educator to help people understand the challenge faced in Haiti. The offer of 100% of the funds from Zynga should please charities that noted last year’s donation was 50% of the income – so not only did Zynga donate $700,000 to charity, they also kept $700,000 for their own coffers.

With over 40m users daily to Zynga sites these examples of awareness and charitable donations show how powerful such a seemingly trivial gaming platform can be a force for good, and profit.