Zynga’s FarmVille Internet gamers have donated $487,500 to Haiti via virtual goods

The 56 million gamers of Zynga’s most popular Internet game, FarmVille, have donated $487,500 for children in Haiti in the past three weeks through the program “Sweet Seeds for Haiti”.

It is an effort from Zynga to promote what it calls “social goods.”

Zynga's online gamers can purchase virtual items as part of the game play within the FarmVille game, where players buy and sell virtual goods as they tend their own virtual farms.

With this program, Internet gamers can buy items that lead directly to donations. In the game, players tend to their farms by purchasing harvesting equipment such as tractors and combines. With Sweet Seeds, users buy sweet potato seeds with their virtual currency, which they earn in the game or pay for with real money.

About 50% of the proceeds are donated to NGOs in Haiti, like Fatem.org and Fonkoze.org.

Jacky Poteau, president of Fatem, said that Zynga’s donations have made it possible for more than 500 children to have access to quality education and lift their families from poverty.

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