# Students propose donating used apps to charity

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/11/21/students-propose-donating-used-apps-charity/
- Published: 2012-11-21T10:36:44+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

How do you donate digital content? That issue is going to become more of a problem
for charities that rely on donations of items such as books and music CDs which 
are being produced as digital items.

And what about apps on mobile phones? They have a value and a lifespan, so after
a while you end up with apps that you just don't need or use. And the value is immense:
currently [people are spending $4.3 billion in Apple iOS apps a year](http://www.asymco.com/2012/06/12/the-ios-app-market-sales-run-rate-is-4-billion-per-year).

Students at the Miami Ad School addressed that question in a project and came up
with the Apple Donation box. The video above is a proof of concept: it is not a 
genuine service and does not have the backing of Apple or The Salvation Army.

## Advertisement

As you'll see the 'advert' suggests a short Christmas campaign in which iPhone users
are encouraged to donate their unwanted apps. For each app donated (and presumably
deleted), the students propose that Apple would donate the value of that app to 
The Salvation Army.

It's an intriguing idea, although it does have one weakness. Why would Apple pay
the full price, including its original share of the app purchase price? Does 'donating'
an app help Apple commercially? It doesn't seem to, so it becomes a less attractive
CSR proposition.

Is there an alternative in which people could donate their unwanted apps to a friend,
who has to make a donation in order to acquire it? Again, that might not work due
to the various digital rights elements of apps, especially now it becomes clear 
that [none of us have the right to transfer the music we've bought in our Apple iTunes library to anyone else](http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/sep/03/bruce-willis-apple-itunes-library),
even after our death.

Still, the Miami Ad School students have made a good start in working out how charities
can try to benefit from the used app market.

 

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