A little over a year ago, Microsoft announced a program that sounded just so crazy it could... be crazy. The company's i'm Initiative lets Windows Live Messenger users choose from a list of charities, and then every time they send an instant message, Microsoft will donate a small amount of money to that charity. While this all sounded a bit silly to us last year, Microsoft has now donated $1.3 million dollars to ten charities through the program.
Of course, the money doesn't come from nowhere. Essentially, Microsoft agrees to donate a small amount of its advertising revenue to the charity of your choice. And the company really could have done that without asking you to sign up for a program. But then how would you know about this big charitable thing Microsoft was doing?
Microsoft says the initiative has been a success over the past year, which has prompted the company to continue the program.
[via WebWare]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-24-2008 @ 9:57PM
Christian said...
Are they really counting how many IM I send so they know how much to donate or is that just sugar coating so that they can scan our messages and know what we're up to?
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4-24-2008 @ 7:43PM
Quikboy said...
Would it matter? It's not as if Google doesn't scan your Gmail messages, or your OS (through Google Desktop) for what they claim is only for the sake of advertising.
And then Y! or AOL could be doing this as well.
I'd doubt MS or any other company seriously goes message by message to track what users are doing. And even if they were, you probably already signed some license agreement or something like that before getting an account with the big 4 web guys.
It's not as if you're doing anything illegal, right? You shouldn't have to worry if you aren't.
4-24-2008 @ 9:59PM
Quikboy said...
When I heard about it, I immediately took the embeddable code and inserted into my screen name to help support UNICEF.
And all I have to do is just IM as usual, and it wasn't even hard! So easy, and for great causes.
And people say MS is so greedy. They also have another similar thing, using Live Search Club. You play games, and earn points. The points can be used for purchasing prizes OR you can set a percentage of the points you receive to help support an organization of your choice.
I typed my zip code in, and found a lot of local groups. Even several of my high school's booster and fundraising groups. I've helped out a lot by just playing games!
They're not bad games either. Most of them are variations of word puzzles (where you can use Live Search to help you). I learned a lot of trivia. In case you're interested :
http://club.live.com/searchandgive.aspx
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4-25-2008 @ 9:15AM
James said...
It just seems like viral marketing to make end-users feel good about using a service that's so poor. Out of all the IM's, MSN is the one that rarely works (my friends complain about it more than I do..). Also, $1.3 million... and how much did they make from their MSN advertisements... $200 mil ("a small amount..")? Mhmm, very charitable, Microsoft. Props to you.
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4-25-2008 @ 9:32AM
ArcticFox said...
Whats with all the negativity towards Microsoft, its ridiculous.
Microsoft didnt have to donate ANYTHING to anyone, when was the last time Steve Jobs or Apple do this or donate any of their personal fortune to charities.
Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donate tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars for charities, they dont have to, they could just sit ontheir money like Steve Jobs.
Please do a bit of research before you spew your vebal diahorrea against Microsoft.
4-25-2008 @ 11:45AM
soniiic said...
well said arcticfox :)
4-25-2008 @ 4:03PM
CJ said...
I have to agree. I'm no big fan of Microsoft, or Apple for that matter, but I have MS, and when I saw the i'm initiative, I blogged about it, and signed up for it.
I don't see too many other companies doing it. At least Microsoft is.
And I am fully aware of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (they're customers of ours). They do great work, too. For all the haters they have, you have to admit they do some good work.
4-25-2008 @ 12:17PM
hjanum said...
Wow. I am impressed. People can actually turn donating $$$ to charity into something negative. Wonder how the story would have looked like if it was Apple doing the same thing.... Brilliant I'll bet.
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