LiveSide - News blog : Charity

Microsoft’s i’m Initiative: Hotmail users can now give Microsoft’s money to good causes

Sunshine — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:52:14 GMT

I'm sure you know about the I'm Initiative for Windows Live Messenger, but now you can also help out by sending mail with Windows Live Hotmail!

What is the i’m Initiative?

The i’m Initiative is a Microsoft program where Microsoft shares a portion of their advertising revenue for everyday activities – sending IMs and emails. Hotmail and Messenger have ads, like all free web services, and Microsoft makes money when a customer sees an ad. The i’m Initiative has successfully raised over 1.4 million dollars since it got started in 2007. It used to be available only in Windows Live Messenger, and now the Hotmail team is glad to say that you’ll be able to raise money for the cause of your choice each time you send an email.

The i’m initiative launched in March 2007 and in its first year raised more than $1.3 million for ten of the world’s most effective social causes, with each organization receiving a minimum of $100,000. With no set cap on the amount donated to each organization, the more customers who join the program and communicate using Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Hotmail, the more money Microsoft donates toward addressing some of the world’s most urgent social issues.

You can choose to support any of the organizations on this list: the American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the National AIDS Fund, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, ninemillion.org, Sierra Club, StopGlobalWarming.org, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, The Humane Society of the United States and U.S Fund for UNICEF.

How do I get started?

Go to http://im.live.com to join. You can choose to participate in Messenger, Hotmail, or both and you can pick a different organization for each service or dedicate all your efforts to one cause – it’s entirely up to you! This program is currently available only to customers in the United States. Once you’re set up, you’ll raise money for your favorite cause every time you send an email or IM. It’s really easy. Once you join, there’s no extra time out of your day, you don’t have to pay any money, and you get to know that you’re taking a step towards making the world better. The power of the collective can be huge – think of the difference that could happen if everyone swapped out a few plastic grocery bags each week for a reusable bag or took one less car trip a week.

i’m Initiative Momentum Data

Microsoft’s i’m Initiative has quickly become one of the most successful online marketing campaigns ever conducted at Microsoft. Consumers have truly embraced the i’m Initiative and its success has surpassed expectations, both from a social action/cause engagement perspective and for Microsoft's own business, proving that cause marketing can truly be an effective approach for social causes, businesses and consumers alike.
From a business momentum point of view for Microsoft, with studies conducted in Nov-Dec 2007 comparing consumers exposed to the i’m Initiative via advertising versus those who hadn’t, the i’m Initiative created strong momentum in:

New customer acquisition: More than 20 million downloads of Windows Live Messenger have been attributed to the i’m campaign itself.
Increased usage of other online offerings: Because of the inherent connections between Windows Live Messenger and other online offerings from Microsoft, such as Live Search, MSN and Windows Live Hotmail, the positive growth seen with the i’m program has had a halo effect of increased usage of these other services as well.

We wrote about the benefits for Microsoft before, how it affected the number of Live Messenger users compared to other IM clients in the same period in the United States. In above excerpt from an email we received, we see that the other Live Services are riding along nicely too.

Now if only they would open it up to other countries.....

I'm Initiative Participants Select UNICEF as Top Charity in First Year of Microsoft's Initiative

Sunshine — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:20:03 GMT

Remember I'm making a difference? Now a year has passed we get to know some of the results. The Initiative has raised $1.3 million in total.

"The generous support and passion of our Windows Live Messenger customers participating in the i'm Initiative made it possible for us to donate $1.3 million to ten of the world's most reputable non-profit organizations," said Tara Kriese, senior product marketing manager at Microsoft. "We're honored that we can contribute to important social causes that positively impact people worldwide."

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF received $255,000, that's the most of all ten charities.

"To say that technology has changed the face of philanthropic giving would be an understatement," said Caryl Stern, president and CEO, U.S. Fund for UNICEF. "We are extremely pleased to partner with Microsoft in this worthwhile initiative and look forward to participating for another year. Our heartfelt thanks go out to users of Windows Live Messenger for making UNICEF their Number One choice. They can feel confident that the money raised will help UNICEF do whatever it takes to save a child."

For more than 60 years, UNICEF has been the world's leading international children's organization, working in over 150 countries to address the ongoing issues that affect why kids are dying. UNICEF provides lifesaving nutrition, clean water, education, protection and emergency response saving more young lives than any other humanitarian organization in the world. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF was founded in 1947 to support the work of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) by raising funds for its programs and increasing awareness of the challenges facing the world's children and is the oldest of 37 national committees for UNICEF worldwide.

Looks like the i'm Initiative reached their goal to give each of the causes a minimum $100,000 in the first year.

The i'm initiative is still going, you can get started here. Besides Unicef you can also choose to support the American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, The National AIDS Fund, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, NineMillion.org, The Sierra Club, Stopglobalwarming.org, Susan G. Komen for the Cure or the Humane Society of the United States. If you are not in the United States, you will get the following message at the Join Now page:

I've submitted my email address, as i'm sure many others did too, back when it started and heard nothing yet about it becoming available here. It's been over a year now, I wonder when other countries will be able to participate...if at all....

More read of interest:
I'm initiative produces 25% growth for Windows Live Messenger
I'm making a difference
MessengerSays - The i'm Initiative and new secret emoticon
I'm Initiative FAQ
im.live.com

I'm initiative produces 25% growth for Windows Live Messenger

Chris — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 05:04:00 GMT

Back at the beginning of March, Microsoft launched the "I'm Initiative," a new charity program carried out through Windows Live Messenger. At the homepage, you can learn more about the charities that are recieving donations and how by putting one of the special "I'm" emoticons in your display name, you can help them out. In the 5 months so far over $35,000 has been raised, which is a pretty good total considering that only users in the US are able to raise money. However as each of the ten charities is guaranteed to received $100,000 at the end of the first year, this potentially leaves Microsoft another $900,000 or so to meet (based on the current rates).

So what else is in it for Microsoft that makes it worth paying this much? The gain is not only the brand benefits associated with charity giving, but service benefits too. The effect this charity program has had on the number of US Messenger users since it started is somewhat surprising - up almost 25%. While the release of Windows Live Messenger 8.1 may have contributed in part to this (it was launched at the end of Janary), the image below compares the Windows Live growth against the average Yahoo!, AIM and AOL growth for the same period, and shows just how good a performance this has been.

(Image provided by Microsoft with numbers in thousands of unique users coming from ComScore)

No obvious explanation was available for the April figures, however the growth trend for this month is similar for both Windows Live Messenger and the other IM services. So if charity giving can work for instant messaging, maybe it can work for Search too. Microsoft tried it before with the "click4thecause" program, however this suggests they should give it another go and take it completely mainstream.

Windows Live Expo gets charitable

Harrison Hoffman — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 19:38:00 GMT

We just got word that the Windows Live Expo team is working on a new charity project along with MercyCorps and the rock band, Presidents of the USA to raise money for global communities trying to recover from war. The band is showing their world premiere video as a part of this project at a new site called Project Zero Friction. All of the items used in the video will be sold on Windows Live Expo, with the proceeds going to MercyCorps.

Catch the full press release after the jump.

...(read more)