eBay, mobile & fundraising

There seem to be lots of examples of virtual stores that utilise QR Codes to sell goods. Most of them for commercial companies, so this fundraising example from the USA really caught my eye.

Toys for Tots have bagged a fabulous corporate partner in eBay who've set up two ‘Give a Toy’ stores. One in New York and the other in San Francisco. But the really cool bit is that the stores have interactive store fronts that enable passers-by to engage in the display by downloading an app and scanning QR Codes.

You can buy gifts from $2 to $25. As donations are made the toys come to life on the donors phone to celebrate being donated and say thank you.

The campaign is supported by an online version for those that don’t live in New York or San Francisco, you can also customise a virtual toy via Facebook.

Seems that a corporate partner helps drive innovation in mobile giving. The recent and brilliant UNICEF Own a Colour campaign was launched with the support of paint company Dulux and included text as a payment mechanism.

There will be lots and lots of this in 2012. The commercial sector has totally embraced mobile and can see that it's a great way to add significant value to their charity partnerships. There are some brilliant ideas being discussed out there at the moment, can't wait to see the ideas turn into actual campaigns.