Tech and Internet Giants Step Up to Help Haiti
Companies rally relief funds to victims of the earthquakes in Hati.
In the wake of the devastating Haiti earthquake, the Red Cross has already been able to raise $5 million for relief through $10 donations via text message, while Google has stepped up to the plate with a $1 million donation of its own.
But lots of other tech and Internet outfits are quickly moving to get involved too, both with their wallets and on-the-fly updates to their services that go towards helping the cause. Here’s a look at a number of initiatives that have come across
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Zynga: The social gaming company has added virtual goods to its games – including Farmville – that go towards Haiti relief. So far, the effort has raised $1.2 million according to Social Times.
- Skype: The VoIP service has sent $2 vouchers to all of its customers in Haiti, allowing them to make up to one hour worth of calls to US.
- Salesforce: The CRM software provider has set up a donation matching program – i.e. – for every $1 you donate to Red Cross or World Vision, Salesforce will also give $1, up to $200,000 total.
- T-Mobile: According to CNET, the carrier has dropped all charges for calls and texts to Haiti through the end of the month. Other carriers are waving charges for the donation text message that has been so successful for the Red Cross.
- MyYearbook: The social network is allowing members to donate their virtual currency to the Haiti Relief Fund. So far, members have pledged $3.5 billion in “LunchMoney.” We’ve followed up with the company to see how much real world money that equals.
- GoDaddy: The domain registrar has donated $500,000 to relief efforts.
- Facebook: The company is leveraging its “Disaster Relief on Facebook” Page to spotlight ways that members can get involved. Facebook’s Randi Zuckerberg blogged about the effort earlier today.
But lots of other tech and Internet outfits are quickly moving to get involved too, both with their wallets and on-the-fly updates to their services that go towards helping the cause. Here’s a look at a number of initiatives that have come across our radar — please add links to others in the comments.
