Nonprofits and Second Life
by Don Singleton

Non profit organizations do a lot of good work in Real Life. I founded HelpingTulsa, and I am proud of the work my volunteers do, I just wish more people were willing to help. And there are many other non profits, local, national, and even international, that do so much more.

TechSoup launched Nonprofit Commons as a way to encourage non profit groups to establish a presence in Second Life. I know you may be thinking "Why on earth would a legitimate non-profit waste money on a game." Well maybe they don't think it is wasting money, and maybe Second Life is a lot more than a game.

Is it a waste of money?

At a meeting today Suza Falta, a representative of TechSoup Japan, gave a report. He could have flown to the Tech Soup offices and given his report in person, but how many thousand dollars (or how many hundred thousand Yen) would that have cost? He could have done a "Go to Meeting" presentation, but that costs $49.00 a month, and is limited to 15 people. A lot more than 15 people, from many different non profits, witnessed Suza's presentation, and aside from their internet connections it did not cost them a thing. Most non profits run on very limited budgets. Don't you think "not cost them a thing" sounds very appealing to a non-profit organization?

Is it a lot more than a game?

Absolutely. There certainly are gaming aspects to it, and if you are just here to have fun, there are plenty of places to go to do that, regardless of what your definition of fun is. But there are a lot of large corporations from the real world establishing a Second Life, either to promote the products they sell in real life to potential customers, or to hold conferences with branch offices, or for many other reasons. Microsoft, for example, has Microsoft Island where their .NET Users Group presents regular programs to .NET Developers, Intel did a Second Life Summit on Multi-core and Software, Dell has Dell Island, IBM has IBM Island, Cisco has Cisco Island, etc.

Some use it for company meetings, some use it to attract young minds to join their company, like this pitch for the Cisco Sales Associate Program, some car companies and real world clothing companies have built Second Life versions of their cars or clothes, and gave them away on Second Life. People get used to having their avatar drive that brand of car, and wear that brand of tennis shoe, and then when they need a new car, or a new pair of shoes, they buy the Real Life brand their avarar uses. There are many reasons big companies are establishing a presence in Second Life, that have nothing to do with it being "just a game".

And just as for-profit companies see a reason for a Second Life presence, there are many Non-Profits that have established a Second Life presence. Just take a look at this PDF Report. Some of the non profits that are in Second Life include:

and many others you may not have heard about yet, but who are doing very good work.

After 230 applications and two rounds of deliberations, the creators of Second Life, Lindon Labs, recently awarded the 1st Lindon Prize, and $10,000 USD to two groups: Studio Wikitecture and Virtual Ability. Studio Wikitecture developed a way for a geographically dispersed design team to simultaneously work on the same architecture or urban planning project which offers a way of possibly creating affordable housing in developing nations. As far as Virtual Ability is concerned, let's listen to Alice Krueger (or rather her avatar Gentle Heron) describe what happened to the attendees at the May 1 Nonprofit Commons meeting:

Thank you Glitter and Penguin for inviting me to speak here today to my non-profit colleagues in Second Life and at TechSoup Global's Partner Summit. I apologize. I usually present in both Voice and Text so everyone can listen, but my Voice isn't working today, so this will just be Text. I understand I've been invited because my group, Virtual Ability, won the recently-announced Linden Prize. I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about health and disability-related non-profits and how they work in virtual worlds. Almost all such non-profits belong to one of two major categories. Some are SL branches of RL groups, such as the American Cancer Society. Most are small peer support groups that were formed and function solely inside SL for persons with common interests.

Our SL group, Virtual Ability, began as such a group. We are a community of support for people with a wide range of disabilities who wanted to bring others like ourselves into a virtual world and support them here. To accomplish this, our group grew and formed a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation that is recognized as tax-exempt by the US federal government. That corporation is called Virtual Ability, Inc. and it is based in Colorado, USA. We believe we may be the first RL charity to originate in an SL group project.

Our group has been involved in non-profit work in SL in many ways. Our members use the resources and facilities of other non-profit peer support groups in SL. In fact, Virtual Ability is a founding member of the Health Support Coalition, which is an umbrella group to facilitate communication among the heads of the over 70 peer support groups in English in SL.

We help other non-profits incorporate, such as the Virtual Helping Hands group that the VirtualGuidedog Project is a part of. We have spun off peer support projects in SL, such as Open Gates, that have evolved into non-profit ventures, like Guiding Lights. And we have brought numerous health- and disability-related groups into SL and the NonProfit Commons, such as Fighting for Fighters, and the Job Accommodation Network.

For the benefit of our real life audience who may not be familiar with exactly what Virtual Ability does in Second Life, I'd like to address two comments made by the judges for the Linden Prize. One judge stated, "The orientation experience and resources are excellent." This refers to our collaborative project, Virtual Ability Island, which we engaged in with the Alliance Library System. There we have a new resident orientation path that is assistive-technology supportive and is specifically designed to work well for people with disabilities. Linden Lab has already recognized this service as a Community Gateway. We are able to help people with physical, mental, emotional, and sensory disabilities learn to use SL and function well here. Now hundreds of people enter SL through our orientation facilities each week. Once new residents have learned the basics- how to walk and fly, how to chat and send instant messages, how to find things in their inventories, and how to teleport, for instance- we welcome them into our support community. The support we provide includes information, socialization opportunities, and referrals to other SL supports. We have a residential sim, an art gallery featuring the work of artists with disabilities, and a website that lists numerous RL and SL resources pertinent to disability issues. In other words, we're a thriving community for our group members as well as providing services and information to others throughout SL.

Another Linden Prize judge summed up Virtual Ability's work this way: "It is a powerful, personally transformative experience for people." For many of us who live our daily lives with the effects of chronic illnesses or disabling impairments, Second Life isn't a game. It's a second chance at life. You can see this in the mini-biographies posted on the Friends and Family page of our website (http://www.VirtualAbility.org). You can see this in the high-quality information we provide to group members and other SL residents. (Consider this an invitation to come to our Swine Flu information session tomorrow, May 2, at 11 am SLT.) You can see this in our dances and other celebratory events. But most of all, ask our group members what being in Second Life, being part of this virtual community means to them. Many will say simply, "I live here." They do not mean they reside here. They mean they can experience activities and feelings with their friends here in Second Life that are not possible in their daily lives.

Thank you for this opportunity to share our vision of a world where our impairments do not get in the way of our living. I yield the floor to my non-profit colleague Stingray from the American Cancer Society.

Nonprofit Commons has a regular meeting every Friday in the Ampitheater on Push. People were asked to introduce yourself with your real name, Nonprofit affiliation and location in the real world:

Each person participating in Second Life has an avatar, that they can dress as they wish. Most resemble people, but not necessarilly. Some may prefer to appear as animals.

When Alice Krueger (Gentle Heron) gave her presentation, she was dressed in a business-like fashion:

Hirosato Matsuura (Suza Falta) from TechSoup Japan dresses more casually (just as I do; you can see my avatar in the yellow APCUG T Shirt on the left):

but Susan Teny (Glitteractica Cookie) and Megan Keane (Penguin Kuhn) appear as a pink cat lady and a Penguin.

Does that mean they are any less serious about what they do? Absolutely not. Second Life allows you to appear however you want to, and that was just their avatar choice. In Real Life you try to see into the soul of the person you are dealing with. In Real Life that is not easy (George Bush was certainly misled when he looked into the eyes of Vladimir Putin and thought he saw his soul), but in Second Life it is much easier. Just look at their profiles. Everyone has 500 characters to try to describe why they are in Second Life, and then the really revealing thing is what groups are they members of.

The profile for Alice Krueger (Gentle Heron) says:

I am a volunteer for Virtual Ability. VAI helps bring people with many kinds of RL disabilities-mental, emotional, physical, and sensory-into Second Life, and provides them with a support comunity once they are here. See our website at www.VirtualAbility.org

I am also founder and president of Virtual Ability, Inc., a US 501(c)3.

I don't now about you, but I find it impressive that the first thing she says is she is a volunteer for a group, and then she reveals she is founder and president of it.

And she is a member of these groups:

The profile for Megan Keane (Penguin Kuhn) says:

In RL, I am the Online Community Manager for TechSoup Global. I manage incoming tenants to the Nonprofit Commons in Second Life. IMs are not always reliable, so email is the best way to reach me. Please contact me: megan@techsoup.org if you have further questions about how to get involved with TechSoup's work in Second Life and the Nonprofit Commons.

And she is a member of these groups:

To compare, my profile is blank (I thought I had entered something, but it apparently was lost. And I am a member of these groups:

This just proves you can't tell what a person is like by looking at their avatar. Alice Krueger (Gentle Heron) and Megan Keane (Penguin Kuhn) are clearly both very serious "giving" people, and I am still learning things in Second Life, but I try to help when I can.