Zynga has named non-profit veteran Ken Weber as the new executive director of its philanthropy arm, Zynga.org. Weber will be in charge of expanding the program and making numerous investments into various charities. Zynga hopes to utilize its 223 million monthly users’ love of virtual goods to fund the investments.
"Important new changes in philanthropy don't come along very often," said Weber. "Fifteen years ago, when we were working on that UNICEF game, there was a seismic shift starting to happen. If the social graph is the next great wave of innovation, it's also reasonable to expect there will be a seismic shift for philanthropy."
"Essentially what we're trying to develop is a new platform for giving based on our games, integrated into the daily experience of playing our games," Weber said.
This will build on previous work by Zynga, which began its charity efforts by selling the limited edition daikon radish crop in FarmVille. Proceeds from the sale went to the victims of the earthquake & tsunami disaster in Japan.
"If somebody had told me eight months ago that we'd be working with a social-gaming company that would be selling virtual radishes to raise money for the Japanese tsunami, I would have told them I thought they were nuts," said Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children. "But that's exactly what happened."
Weber will be in charge of focusing Zynga’s efforts and determining where Zynga.org can do the most good.
[Via Sydney Morning Herald]
