REMEMBER when a charity donation of a dollar or two would get you a sticker, a fancy bookmark or a lucky-draw ticket?

That was then. Times have changed and a Singapore charity has taken its fund-raising effort to the virtual world.

This is how it works: Potential donors visit Second Life, the giant virtual universe, and enter a zone filled with candy castles, lollipop trees and chocolate rivers.

They can click on these items to 'buy' them. The cost of such items is then docked from their 'virtual dollars' accounts. At the close of the donation drive on Sept 21, the funds collected are converted into real Singapore dollars.

The beneficiary of this form of pioneering fund-raising here is the National University Hospital's Blood and Marrow Transplant 4 Kids Programme for children with blood or genetic disorders such as leukaemia.

The charity drive will be launched on Saturday.

Second Life, which has been around since 2003, is a virtual world where online users can socialise, build careers, create virtual islands, trade in goods and services - do virtually anything in a universe parallel to their real-life one.

It has a thriving economy where even real-life companies have set up shop; the virtual credit card company First Meta and virtual banks provide financial services.

Users or Second Life 'residents' who want to make a donation to NUH's Blood and Marrow Transplant 4 Kids Programme need to first search for Sim Island and visit the spot called 'Youth for Causes Fund Raising'.

There, they will find the 'Hansel and Gretel' zone of enchanted forests and fairies, with items price-tagged in Linden dollars, the currency which fuels economic activity in Second Life. The items cost between 100 and 1,000 Linden dollars. (1,000 Linden dollars is about US$4 or S$5.50.)

Items can be paid for in Linden dollars or charged to one's First Meta credit card.

Ms Joy Cheok, vice-president of sales and marketing at First Meta, said the main benefit of running a charity drive in a virtual world is the vast reach - it will be far wider than that of a physical charity drive held within Singapore's borders.

'We're not limited to donations from Singaporeans only. There are roughly over 14 million residents in Second Life, and any of them can donate to this cause,' she said.

The idea for this drive was born when four young adults - two undergraduates and two national servicemen - asked First Meta to sponsor their real-world charity drive.

'One thing led to another, and we decided to do it through Second Life instead,' said one of the students, Ms Ang Siok Chen, 20.

Mr Trevor Xie, founder of the charity organisation Student Advisory Centre, said he found the idea refreshing, since donors here are 'numbed by the conventional ways donations are sought'.

But blogger and occasional Second Life user Priscilla Liu, 25, pointed out that although the approach was novel, the multitudes of Second Life residents would make targeting the right audience difficult.

Overseas, donation drives via Second Life have already been attempted by some groups. For example, the American Cancer Society organised a virtual run to raise funds for cancer patients.

And earlier this year, American IT developer Simuality appealed via Second Life for donations for victims of Myanmar's cyclone disaster.

tanwz@sph.com.sg