Habitat Hoping Virtual Houses Will Yield Real World Results

By Rachel Ward

Rochester, NY – Eleni Papademetriou is working on her house.

"I just painted my house pink and added some grass and a 'For Sale' sign and a porch. And then I click 'Next' and I fill in the required fields: my name, my address ..."

But this little pink house exists only in the virtual world.

It's part of an online application, created by Habitat for Humanity in Rochester. The application allows users to pledge a donation, personalize a house with little trees and their own paint color, make the contribution with a credit card or PayPal, and then spread the word about the campaign through Facebook or Twitter.

Users can donate as an individual or have the cash count toward a team's fundraising goal.

Habitat for Humanity in Rochester, which commissioned the online game, is trying to reach younger donors, according to CEO Arthur Woodward.

"They communicate with email, with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn," he said. "And so we have to reach that group. And many nonprofits are not really aware of how we have to change. We cannot fundraise in the traditional ways. Yes we can still have the walks, we can still have our annual fund drive. Because that's appropriate for different groups. But it is not appropriate if we want to reach a third of the population."

Once donors have built a virtual house, Habitat is hoping they'll stay in touch through Facebook or other social media platforms, and that their relationship with the nonprofit will deepen.

Tipping Point Media brought the game to life. Company CEO Michelle Ashby says nonprofits are constantly struggling to recruit younger donors.

"You're tapping into people's social networks in a casual way where you're not looking at them going 'Can you give me $50?' And presumably, if they're part of your social network, you already have a good relationship with them. And you're appealing to them to support your cause in an environment that isn't too intrusive."

But Elizabeth Lawley, director of the Lab for Social Computing at the Rochester Institute of Technology, sees the application differently.

"This is really just decoration on top of a donation form."

Lawley says it's great that Habitat for Humanity is trying to use interactive media to recruit new donors. But she says the game lacks a finish line or a compelling goal to draw people in to create teams and compete to raise funds.

"You have to sort of start out from the beginning and say 'Who is it that we're targeting this game or activity to? Are we targeting it to people who already use social network sites and engage in Facebook games? And if so, what are the things that make them engage in the games?' And very often that's the social component not of just seeing that somebody else did something, but of sharing things and achieving things."

Habitat does have a finish line in real life. It's hoping the game will raise enough money to fund the construction of a Habitat House built entirely by women. The goal is to raise $79,000, which brings the fundraising application cost $13,000. But the nonprofit says that's offset by sponsorships on the website and the fact that the game can be used again.

But fundraising in a virtual world isn't perfect. Just as the fun-run might get rained out, or the bake sale might not have enough cupcakes, Habitat's game can run into snags.

When the game was rolled out for media Monday, there was a moment of confusion as the application hit a snag with the demonstrator's PayPal account. After logging out and back in multiple times, she ultimately had to give up on donating entirely.

Despite the bugs, and the lack of true interactivity, RIT's Lawley says she's glad Habitat is giving social media a try.

"My hope is that even if this isn't as successful as they hope, that they won't say 'Well, you know clearly this won't work', that instead they'll look at ways that they can, you know, make it even better than what they've got. But I'm really heartened to see this kind of interactivity being put forth on a charitable site."

The website will be up until Mother's Day. At that point the non-profit will know if it earned enough to build a house - and if virtual houses can help build real world neighborhoods.