public-benefits – NVSQ Blog

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Shihua Ye¹, Zhongsheng Wu², Xiaochen Gong³, Yiming Dai², and Jieyu Wu¹

¹Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen, China, ²Zhejiang University–Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou, China, ³Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China

Imagine a day where every step, search, ride, game, or online purchase contributes to charity. From Charity Miles to Ecosia, Ant Forest, and to JustPlay, your digital actions are captured, transformed into data, and matched by sponsors to fund real-world charitable causes. This is Virtual Philanthropy, a new form of philanthropy where donations aren’t measured in money or goods, but in digital traces embedded into everyday routines. By lowering barriers and turning ordinary online behaviors into acts of charity, virtual philanthropy democratizes giving and redefines what it means to ‘be a donor’.

Despite the growing prevalence of virtual philanthropy, academia has not established a clear definition or systematic framework for its analysis. Addressing this gap, a recent mixed-method study by YE Shihua, WU Zhongsheng, GONG Xiaochen, DAI Yiming, and WU Jieyu—entitled “Virtual Philanthropy: Exploring Its Definition and Perceived Social Impact Through a Mixed-Method Approach”— represents the first systematic attempt to comprehensively examine this phenomenon. Their study provides a foundational framework to delineate the boundaries, dimensions, characteristics, and associated social impact of virtual philanthropy.

Notably, their study employs a novel approach, a modified snowball sampling method based on ChatGPT, to identify 40 global cases that offer new insights into this new emerging form of philanthropy in the digital era.