What kind of charities or causes do you like to donate to? Mental health, cleaning up oceans, cancer research, saving endangered species, lifting communities out of poverty, protecting forests, providing education to children, microloans to women in rural locations? Chances are nowadays there is an NFT supporting your favourite causes. And whilst there are definitely some differences between the standard donation method of giving directly and receiving nothing but the altruistic feeling of giving, perhaps the added benefit of walking away with a digital token for your donation will appeal to a new generation of donors?
There are several ways NFTs are being used to raise donations for charities. Some platforms are rewarding individuals for doing good deeds by earning points, that go on to mint NFTs, which are then in turn used to raise funds for donations. So for example, donating blood will earn you 500 good points towards minting an NFT that may then be sold at a charity event or auction, see here.
In other examples, NFTs are donated and then auctioned with all proceeds supporting various charities. We’ve previously mentioned Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey auctioning off his first-ever tweet as an NFT and raising $2.9 million dollars for GiveDirectly, a charity sending cash to poor families impacted by Covid in Africa, see here. Sotheby’s, one of the largest auction houses in the world, now has a Metaverse where they are auctioning NFT collections, often raising funds for charities. They currently have a new collection in place for the Liverpool Football Club Foundation, which you can find here,
Perhaps you would like to purchase a tract of the Amazon rainforest and help conserve it, well not literally, but where your NFT might give you access to satellite monitoring data of said tract in addition to your digital collectible. These NFTs are designed to protect and conserve actual tracts of land in the Amazon. Of course, your purchase doesn’t result in newly obtained land ownership in Brasil, but you can help conserve the largest rainforest on the planet. Take a look here and here for some further information.
Women Rise is an NFT collection celebrating diversity, inclusivity, and women with a percentage of proceeds going to the Malala Fund supporting girls’ access to education, see here. Not only is this collection providing a charitable donation, but it is also supporting and empowering female artists and encouraging them into the world of blockchain, an often male-dominated industry. The collection of 10,000 NFTs took less than two months to sell out, and this is not an uncommon occurrence. Many of the NFT collections mentioned here have sold out, whether that be the full collection or the first/second/third releases, which is really encouraging to see.
And then of course there is a range of NFT options available for helping to save endangered and vulnerable species. The World Wildlife Fund’s Non-Fungible Animals WWF NFA protecting vaquitas through to gorillas, KRebels saving koalas from extinction, Typical Tigers with a 3,900 sold-out collection supporting various charities working to preserve the remaining wild tiger populations, or Stoner Zebra protecting Grevy’s zebra through the African Conservation Foundation. Chances are if there isn’t yet an NFT of your favourite animal which contributes to its welfare or conservation, there soon will be. And this is where Fauna NFT is hoping to join the cause and with our partners create many NFT collections for good contributing to vital species conservation projects.
It is important to note in most cases mentioned here a percentage of the sale is donated to charity, not 100%, and there might be many reasons for that. A percentage might go to the artist/creators, who might receive ongoing royalities, or in many cases charities are requiring the assistance of third parties to provide the technical side of things such as platforms, marketplaces, or smart contracts, and these things don’t come for free. Always make sure you read the fine print and ensure you are happy with the donation terms and conditions before you jump on board. But as you can see there really is now a wide range of NFTs available that do good. Whether you’re just looking to make a once off purchase and donation, or whether you’re looking for a long term tradeable collectible that will result in recurrring donations there is something out there for everyone.