For many charities, the COVID-19 pandemic was the catalyst to embrace Gaming for Good and take advantage of alternative fundraising streams. This article revisits this exciting movement, reviewing how the landscape has evolved over the last five years, and the ways charities are continuing to use gaming as an enduring new source of fundraising.
What is Gaming for Good?
Gaming for Good is a movement that taps into the global video games industry, with its estimated worth of $187.7 billion in 2024. It provides a variety of exciting avenues for charities to explore, including:
- Collaborations between charities and game studios. Collaborations can help raise awareness and funds for a charity, with a proportion of profits going to charity. GamesAid's partnership with Steam is one example of this, with each purchase made during the GamesAid Steam Sale helping raise funds for young people across the UK.
- Delivering public benefit through gaming. Awarded the prestigious BAFTA Special Award in March for their outstanding contribution to the UK gaming industry, SpecialEffect works directly with games developers and studios to make games and controllers accessible to those with physical disabilities.
- Streaming for Good. Save the Children UK's Stream for Save is just one example of a charity that has successfully turned streaming content into a valuable fundraising stream. Other examples include Cosy Coop, a non-profit group that creates esports events to raise money for charity. While the sums raised through streaming events hosted on sites like YouTube and Twitch can be impressive, such levels of income are not generated overnight and often require collaborations with streamers and influencers to maximise the reach.
How can charities embrace the movement?
As many charities have already discovered, embracing Gaming for Good could help organisations expand their reach among new audiences, and diversify their fundraising streams. However, to do this effectively, charities should first take the time to understand the industry, and how charity and fundraising rules apply to these innovative projects.
With an estimated 3.2 billion gamers worldwide, gaming is for everyone, but it is also an extremely fragmented industry. To fully realise the potential of Gaming for Good, charities need to think strategically about:
- Finding the right fit. Given its fragmented nature and the lack of homogeneous communities, it is important that charities engage with the industry in an authentic way, targeting specific games developers, influencers and gamers who share their values and purposes. Taking a proactive approach, reaching out to and actively building an understanding of communities will help you find the right fit for your charity.
- Engaging with employees or volunteers. It might be that within your charity's network you already have avid gamers who are passionate about your cause. Take advantage of this knowledge, and explore ways to upskill employees and volunteers if required. The more informed they are about the movement, the greater the benefit.
- Collaboration. This can be between charities and gaming studios (as mentioned above), cross-team or with other charities (such as GamesAid) who are already active in the gaming space. Taking a collaborative approach can help increase efficiency, but charities should ensure they have followed Charity Commission guidance first.
Why should charities embrace Gaming for Good?
While traditional large-scale physical fundraising events may have returned, there remains a compelling business case for embracing the innovative digital strategy ethos of Gaming for Good. In particular, the movement can provide:
- Brand awareness. Embracing the movement can provide charities with novel, less traditional forms of marketing and advertising to help boost brand awareness among potentially new audiences. War Child has capitalised on this, using in-game banners on Football Manager to promote their brand.
- Diversified income streams. The global pandemic exposed the weaknesses inherent to relying solely on a limited range of income streams. The Blackbaud Status of UK Fundraising 2024 Benchmark Report highlights the benefits of diversified income streams, with organisations experiencing income growth characterised by a more equally spread income stream. Of these, 37% attributed their growth to planned new and different activity.
- Values-driven data. How gamers play games and interact with content can generate values-driven data, providing valuable insight into their interests and prevailing views on topics.
- Cost. Given the potential fundraising revenue, livestream events are relatively cheap to host. Players can organise the events themselves, with their own equipment and consoles. Macmillan is one example of a charity that has embraced this form of fundraising through their Game Heroes campaign where gamers are encouraged to take on a gaming challenge or marathon.
- Furtherance of charitable purposes. Charities such as the RSPCA are using games to help further their charitable purposes. Launched in September 2024, Animal Futures, an immersive gaming experience, invites players to explore five scenarios and consider their role in changing the world for animals today.
What should charities consider before adoption?
As with any new fundraising venture, charities should be keen to explore the movement while maintaining realistic expectations, and think about:
- Practical considerations. Platforms such as JustGiving and Charity Digital provide useful tips and guidance on Gaming for Good topics, including how to organise successful streaming events, and how to engage with gamers.
- Health and wellbeing of supporters. Mammoth streaming events are a popular way for supporters to raise money for their chosen charity, but it is important that their health and wellbeing are considered. To this end, it may be beneficial to set out some helpful tips and guidance for supporters to follow. You can find an example here provided by Save the Children UK.
- Safeguarding. Charities must take reasonable steps to protect people who come into contact with the charity, and NCVO and The Charity Commission have both produced guidance on this priority issue.
- Legal and regulatory framework. There are charity law rules and regulatory guidance that apply to all collaborations between charities and businesses, with specific requirements for certain fundraising collaborations, summarised on the Fundraising Regulator website. To ensure everything runs smoothly, it is also important to put in place suitable legal structures, agreement templates and policies, including on how gamers' data will be used and shared.
Want to explore collaboration between the charity and gaming sectors? At Mishcon de Reya, we have a rare combination of expertise in both Gaming and Charities, and we would be pleased to help.