"an animal sanctuary for performing animals" - Too Vague

[Sukegawa]

in your most recent GC-related announcement, you mentioned donating to an animal charity; in fact the exact quote was:

Quote:

Also, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to an animal sanctuary for performing animals! It'll be out until August 25th, 9:59 AM PST, so drop by soon to join in!

gaia, im ALL for charitable donations, so im psyched you're doing something good for a change!
however, that is WAY too vague
exactly what portion of profits is being donated? 1%? 10%? 25%?
if i knew exactly, i'd be more inclined to buy, because if it was a larger portion, i'd feel good; if it was a small portion, i'd rather say screw it and donate to the charity itself

and how about which charity exactly?
when you gathered donations for the haiti relief fund, we knew it what is was for and who it was through; red cross i believe
but here, we don't know
what if its a charity we don't support because of practises they follow?
such as how the salvation army donates to political parties that oppose gay marriage?
(don't quote me on that, im not 100% certain but i've heard it from people who are normally pretty solid on their facts)
or what if the charity just isn't good at what it does and we'd prefer a better charity for the same cause be donated to?

please gaia, im incredibly happy you're doing something good, but can you not be so vague about it?
it doesn't instil confidence

EDIT:
a gaia staff member has posted, in this thread, varifying the actual existance of the donation and the amount
the post can be found quoted below and on the 2nd page

bluealaris

Hi Gaians, sorry to cause you concern with our latest charity announce- I'll do my best to answer all questions. A lot of charities don't like to be called out or named to avoid legal snafus- we would have to go through a very long process with lawyers just to name them. Once we've made the donation we can announce where its going. The one we selected is local to California and acts as a sanctuary/refuge to rescued performance animals ranging from lions/tigers/bears (oh my) as well as elephants. We will be donating 10% of the profits from the RIG to this charity. We're very glad that you're interested since animal welfare is something that the art team and staff are really passionate about. If you like this RIG or support the idea of more charity RIGs please feel free to leave feedback on what charities you think Gaia could donate to next.

thank you gaia for the clarification!

[MedeaSwart]

This.

[R0RA]

If they have to keep the portion of proceeds donated a secret, it's probably a sign that it's a really low amount...

I'm guessing, what, 0.05%? Tops? rofl


I'd like to see some transparency on Gaia's part here, too. At the bare minimum, we should at least know which charity they'll be donating to.

[RenEtwal]

Perhaps, it's not a real animal charity? It's a hunch that it might simply be a statement since it's a circus themed bundle.

[M e i]

I agree, they need to be more transparent.

Why wouldn't they say the name of the charity? Usually that helps to get the charity publicity right?

I'm not quite cynical enough to believe there is no charity. In all likelihood they don't want people donating directly to the charity.

Seems sketchy to me.

[denrrito]

Pichipai-hime

Perhaps, it's not a real animal charity? It's a hunch that it might simply be a statement since it's a circus themed bundle.

that's what i thought it was. the "it'll be out by" statement makes it seem like an item release date.

[R0RA]

I'm inclined to believe there probably is an actual charity that will be receiving said "portion of the proceeds" (even if that portion is like 0.05%), but if there's one thing that Gaia is consistently stupendously good at, it's finding new ways to creatively outdo itself at sinking to new lows.

[Sukegawa]

k0n pei t0

Pichipai-hime

Perhaps, it's not a real animal charity? It's a hunch that it might simply be a statement since it's a circus themed bundle.

that's what i thought it was. the "it'll be out by" statement makes it seem like an item release date.

the full paragraph reads:

Quote:

Join the Precious Parade and you'll earn a marvelous reward for your participation! It might be a fuzzy new companion, an adorable animal set, or even a brand new outfit! You'll never know until you try, so bust out your comfiest kicks and come march in this amazing parade! The top ten purchasers of Precious Parade will be entitled to an exclusive recolor of Smoothie the Elephant! Also, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to an animal sanctuary for performing animals! It'll be out until August 25th, 9:59 AM PST, so drop by soon to join in!

from reading the paragraph, its implied pretty heavily that its a real charity they'll be donating to
the "it'll be out until" is referring to the RIG itself

[Hasuki Aatisuto]

When was the last time Gaia did a charity drive? rolleyes

Besides, I'm pretty sure the "animal sanctuary for performing animals" is just a play on the Circus RIG and is not an actual charity at all. Besides, if it WAS, you'd think they would give you the name of the charity and a link to the website (if they have any). They didn't do either.

Gaia will get 100% of the sales.

[Sukegawa]

Hasuki Aatisuto

When was the last time Gaia did a charity drive? rolleyes

Besides, I'm pretty sure the "animal sanctuary for performing animals" is just a play on the Circus RIG and is not an actual charity at all. Besides, if it WAS, you'd think they would give you the name of the charity and a link to the website (if they have any). They didn't do either.

Gaia will get 100% of the sales.

which is why i don't like this vague-ness
so far, people seem pretty 50/50 on whether there's even going to be any donation
gaia shouldn't be vague on topics involving charitable donations

[Zandy]

Yes, it is very vague. I could definitely see Gaia trying to play up sales with a tactic like this because... well, it's Gaia.

If it is a real charity though, like R0RA said, the amount they're donating is probably so low that if they announced it publicly people would laugh it off. I wouldn't be surprised if they donated less than 5% of the proceeds. There's not even that many items in the CI anyways, so the purchase isn't really worth it. It's just better to donate to reputable charities directly to ensure a larger percent of the proceeds is actually put to good use.

[R0RA]

Yeah, especially with consumer confidence in them being so... low. For very good reasons.

I certainly wouldn't put it past them. They're good at twisting words.

[UNSUB]

Hasuki Aatisuto

When was the last time Gaia did a charity drive? rolleyes

Besides, I'm pretty sure the "animal sanctuary for performing animals" is just a play on the Circus RIG and is not an actual charity at all. Besides, if it WAS, you'd think they would give you the name of the charity and a link to the website (if they have any). They didn't do either.

Gaia will get 100% of the sales.

Around Nov-Dec 2013 after the Typhoon Haiyan, a Category 5 Super Typhoon, devastated the middle part of the Philippines. I can't recall exactly, but I think they gave all the proceeds of the Bayanihan Halo to the Red Cross. I think there were others before that like the one for the Fukushima Earthquake. I think that the lion's share(or all of it) was also donated.

I do understand Gaia is a business and not really some NGO or Charity association so I don't expect them to do these things regularly, but it's nice that they do. There are simply too many causes and I don't think that is Gaia's main thrust.
I agree with the OP. I think more details should be provided, at least.

Edit: November 12, 2013
$7k for Typhoon Haiyan Victims

[Slick Spiderbro]

oh crap, I didn't even think that the wording was carefully suggested phrases to indicate charity with a distinct possibility of not being such.

P;

If it is a business play on words, I still don't expect much to it

what's the point of spending oodles for the sake of having an exclusive item? You can only play that card so many times before people refuse to buy on principle.

[RenEtwal]

Sukegawa

k0n pei t0

Pichipai-hime

Perhaps, it's not a real animal charity? It's a hunch that it might simply be a statement since it's a circus themed bundle.

that's what i thought it was. the "it'll be out by" statement makes it seem like an item release date.

the full paragraph reads:

Quote:

Join the Precious Parade and you'll earn a marvelous reward for your participation! It might be a fuzzy new companion, an adorable animal set, or even a brand new outfit! You'll never know until you try, so bust out your comfiest kicks and come march in this amazing parade! The top ten purchasers of Precious Parade will be entitled to an exclusive recolor of Smoothie the Elephant! Also, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to an animal sanctuary for performing animals! It'll be out until August 25th, 9:59 AM PST, so drop by soon to join in!

from reading the paragraph, its implied pretty heavily that its a real charity they'll be donating to
the "it'll be out until" is referring to the RIG itself

I will still stick to my opinion on the matter. While, I have no issues if Gaia is truly doing a charity donation or who will recieve money, the fact that it doesn't include straight forward information has me scratching my head. I continue to vote that it's an attempt to make people who are animal lovers give up their cash for pixels by staying vague. If they release another announcement which clearly states who is recieving the money and what percentage, I wouldn't be so skeptical. I'm stuck between "Is this real charity or is this a business move to 'win' people over."

Edit:

The paragraph taken from the announcement doesn't give enough information to form an opinuon on if it's real or not. Or so, I don't perceive it as being fact that a charity is getting funds. I will also google performance animal charities to see if there's any that stand out.