Donate To Cancer Charity With Facebook Credits

Cancer research charity Stand Up To Cancer is appealing for donations in the form of Facebook Credits.

The charity’s Facebook page calls for donations of $5, $15 or $25 with a choice of payment via credit card or Facebook Credits. The social networking site has waived its usual 30% cut for Credits and all processing fees, so 100% of the donation should go directly to the charity. However, it’s not possible to donate Facebook Credits that you received for free, and you would need accountancy advice to determine whether donations made via Credits would be tax deductible.

The charity could potentially gain a lot of exposure through Facebook, especially if people choose to share their donations through status updates. Stand Up To Cancer also suggests that people attending the charity’s meetups tonight or in future, should spread the word by checking via Facebook Places.

Facebook has been making great progress in its goal of making Credits the main or exclusive virtual currency on the site, with Zynga the latest social game company to agree to an exclusive deal. Facebook makes a 30% cut when users spend Credits on virtual goods in social games such as Farmville or Mob Wars. It’s great to see them giving back as well, by waiving processing fees for charities such as Stand Up To Cancer.

Of course, Facebook does gain in other ways from the collaboration, besides feeling good about helping cancer research. The fundraising event will help promote Facebook Credits as a payment system, both on the site through user activity and potentially also through the hour-long celebrity fundraising telethon on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and some cable channels tonight.