Why look to online gaming for help?

Studies show that the standard of living of the average online gambler is in the top 2% of the world's population. The online gaming industry is among the most profitable and fastest-growing sectors in the world, with 2003 revenue expected to be more than $6 billion. Analysts predict that revenue from online gaming will top $10 billion within a few years.

Clearly, these are people and companies with wealth to contribute towards the world's least advantaged people.

After all, online gaming is a luxury of the relatively wealthy. The vast majority of online gamers come from wealthy countries: Western Europe, the USA, Japan. The very existence of a disposable income and access to a computer define the online gambler as wealthier than more than half the world's population.

In fact, if you are reading this right now, it is almost a certainty that you fall into the 20% of people at the top of the world's income ladder — probably the top 2%.

Even the tiniest fraction of the flow of dollars between gamblers and gaming companies can add up to a tidy sum.

As an organization comprised of members of the international gaming industry, IGIPRP sees the potential to use the profits generated by online gaming as a source for funding and donations.

An appealing idea, but with a few stumbling blocks to overcome. How, for instance, can this charitable plan be communicated to an industry with no central organizing or governing body? How can companies and players from countries all over the world be enticed to join?

This creation of the IGIPRP organization is only the first step. By taking part in charitable projects ourselves and spreading the word as best we can, we hope to see this industry play a concrete role in ending global poverty.

What can IGIPRP do? >>