Charities and non-profit organizations have long relied on creative marketing to bring their causes to light, but VR’s strong ability to cause empathy presents new opportunities to tug at the heartstrings of potential donors. At VRTO 2017, the Virtual Reality Toronto Convention, digital agency Primacy debuted GivLuv, their new platform to connect causes to the people who care about them.
Available initially for Samsung Gear VR, GivLuv is a unique platform that leverages the immersive nature of VR to bring a personal touch to the stories partners want to tell. In-experience donation capability allows users to donate without leaving the experience, providing organizations with a scalable way to have a captive audience that, until VR, was only possible through in-person events and tours. New donors can explore causes and repeat donors can access new content from their favorite organizations to see what has been made possible by their contributions.
Early charitable partners include 3000 Miles to a Cure and the Boys & Girls Club of Hartford, both of which have build immersive, highly customized virtual reality experiences to be consumed within the GivLuv app. The two experiences are very distinct – 3000 Miles to a Cure transports the user to a peaceful mountaintop where family members of cancer patients recount their loved ones’ stories, while BGCA takes the user into their Hartford location to tour the facilities and meet real representatives from the club. While these VR experiences could be powerful on their own, what GivLuv brings to the table is a unique donation interface to allow users to contribute directly to a cause at any point during its experience. This means the user can donate without leaving the experience, and the organization has the most elusive gem, a captive audience – unlike reading an article or watching a video on YouTube, in VR there are no distractions.
Using virtual reality to make users empathize with a charitable cause is not a new idea – UNICEF made headlines in 2015 with their UNICEF360 films, and organizations in the UK adopted similar technology the following year – but GivLuv is first to the table to build a viable two-way platform for donors and organizations to connect. Though still in early stages, GivLuv is poised to inspire a new wave of immersive contributor experiences, and as VR expands we can expect to see this type of platform extend beyond the charitable fundraising space to genres like crowdfunding and online marketplaces. GivLuv and its parent agency Primacy are claiming their foothold in this space early, and paving the way for the new age of giving.
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