On Friday, social gaming giant Zynga joined tsunami relief efforts by enabling in-game donations through virtual goods in Zynga games like FrontierVille, FarmVille and CityVille. Today, the company announced that — in just 36 hours — Zynga gamers donated more than $1 million to relief efforts.

Zynga partnered with the Save the Children to raise money for its Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children Emergency Fund.

Zynga representatives said that the campaign was created in under 24 hours and is the largest charitable campaign in company history. It is also the first CityVille Zynga.org campaign.

While we applaud Zynga (and its gamers) for their collective magnanimous spirit, the fundraising efforts continue. Gamers can contribute by buying designated virtual goods like a sweet potato crop in CityVille, a Kobe cow in FrontierVille, radishes in FarmVille, and a royal flush for Zynga Poker — or can donate by using this direct link.

Those who wish to donate in the non-Ville game Words With Friends can use the Save the Children button inside the game. Players in all games within Facebook can also send funds using the Zbar, or the bar that sits on top of the screen. Facebook will also be donating its traditional 30% cut on the Facebook Credits used to contribute to the relief.


Zynga was founded in July 2007 by Mark Pincus and is named for his late American Bulldog, Zinga. Loyal and spirited, Zinga’s name is a nod to a legendary African warrior queen.