This website captured me from the beginning because it represents what I think fund raising should be: fun. The site is simple, easy to use and interesting. It doesn’t distract you with bureaucratic information about the institutions involved etc. The minute you’re in the website, the first question appears: you’re already playing and you understand that with each right answer, you automatically donate 10 grains of rice to the World Food Programme (http://www.wfp.org). However, if you want to get more information, it’s easy to find and simple to understand.
The game has different subjects from which to choose which makes it more addictive; when you get tired of English Vocabulary, you can go to Chemistry, Geography, Art (my fav), among others.
The donation of rice is made possible by the advertisers of the website. Every time a player gets the right answer, the advertisement at the bottom of the site changes. This means that every advertiser pays for the 10 grains of rice that the correct answer generates.
The website was launched in 2007 (yes, I am finding out 3 years later about it) and it’s been in constant improvement to get more people playing. You can even try the beta website here: http://beta.freerice.com/ It’s more social: if you want you can log in and have access to more features that make the experience more personal. There’s a “Player Activities” box where you can see how others are doing, there’s also space for a blog and news. Another cool thing about the beta version is the groups’ section where you can interact with others who are also playing.
I still think it needs a more attractive look, something more vibrant that invites people to play… something more modern, perhaps? But still, the greatest thing about www.freerice.com is that you can always play! It’s not a one time thing, you can always go back and continue learning and doing a good deed while having fun!
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