Bridging
the (fundraising) gap George Osborn and Terry Haynes, Co-Chairs of Games Aid, outline why an effective industry charity can play a crucial role in supporting small organisations across the UK
O George Osborn
ver the past year and a half, the games industry has taken another enormous step towards mainstream cultural prominence. Lockdown put games at the centre of people’s free time; the consumer market boomed as people sought virtual connection that felt capable of replacing the physical; with it, came an understanding from a range of audiences that there is a unique power to games as an interactive creative medium. However, there’s one group whose burgeoning interest in games over the past year hasn’t really been tracked properly: charities. The pandemic demolished the traditional revenue streams of charities, cancelling the running races, office bake offs, raffles and other physical activities that formed the bread and butter of fundraising. In difficult times, charities sought ways to raise funds through digital means. While they looked for a number of options, many surged towards games as a fundraising option because it offered a remarkably effective vehicle for raising cash for great causes. This has manifested itself in a number of different ways. To some extent, charities found that games companies could offer traditional corporate support by
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putting together programmes in return for cash. Most though found that games offered unique opportunities not available elsewhere. Humble Bundles have, for a long time, been recognised as an effective source of charity fundraising. But industry has innovated well beyond that too. One Special Day, Special Effect’s enormous fundraising day in October, successfully tempted major companies to donate an entire day of revenue in the UK to their cause – demonstrating how in-game economies can be turned into engines of remarkable good. And more broadly, grassroots fundraising has exploded in games. Tiltify has been a prime example of this, helping streamers set up fundraising campaigns through Twitch to create both a mass of smaller fundraisers – the kind you might expect to gamely trudge the streets on marathon day – and hyper effective community events from major streamers or big game brands that raise staggering amounts of money. Yet while these opportunities exist, and are being taken by some genuinely wonderful charities, it’s also clear that smaller charities need help negotiating into this space. While the pursuit of funding for charities is ultimately a noble aim, it’s also unfortunately true
