I recently connected with Adam Archer, the CEO of GamesThatGive, about the new platform, their goals, and more. Prior to co-founding GamesThatGive, Adam was a senior software engineer at Apple, working on many aspects of Mac OS X's integration at its Cupertino headquarters. Adam is also an experienced organic farmer and has backpacked extensively around the world.He lives in San Francisco, CA.

Check out the interview below!

First, what is GamesThatGive?

GamesThatGive creates casual video games (Solitaire, Sudoku, etc.) where you earn donations for your favorite charity, for free, just by playing. GamesThatGive follows a simple model: You play. We donate. Charities win. Users play free games such as Solitaire and Sudoku through our website and Facebook application, and based on how well they play and how long they play for, they generate donations for the charity they choose.

The games are sponsored by brands including Pepsi, MasterCard, Quaker, Dial and Domino's (to name a few). One advertiser appears in the background of each game session, and 70% of our ad revenue goes to the user selected charity, and the remaining 30% comes to GamesThatGive and covers the costs to operate our servers, pay our developers, etc. At GamesThatGive, our users can change the charity that they're playing for at any time. Registration is free and allows users to track their impact, invite their friends, and select their favorite game and charity for quick play.

Where did the idea come from?

Well, it has been a long road to founding GamesThatGive. After putting myself through Arizona State University's Computer Engineering program, I embarked on a two-year overland backpacking trip around the world. It was on that trip that I learned what was important in life. Here were people that lived with nothing, yet had everything. Upon returning to the U.S., I couldn't shake a simple concept - that within the new technology landscape of social networks, the internet and mobile devices, there was an easy way to leverage people's existing behavior to, somehow, make a difference. Not knowing what this "existing behavior + new technology" idea could possibly be,I thought it would be best to hone my technical skills.

I accepted a software engineering position at Microsoft, and moved onto Apple, but I continued to wonder why people weren't doing more to help charities. I asked around and always got the same answers: "I just don't have the time", "I don't have the money", or "How? Maybe if there an easy way to make a difference." I believe that using existing behavior plus new technologies was the key. If I could leverage existing behavior, I could remove the excuses.

It was out of that thought that the idea of GamesThatGive was born: Play games and have fun, and the better you do at the games, the more you donate! You're playing for your favorite charity! I contacted developer and friend Kris Goss and started to develop a website that allowed people to play their favorite games and donate to charity at no cost to them. Also, I brought on Brian Reich, a communications and nonprofit strategist, Cie Nicholson, former Chief Marketing Officer at Pepsi, Chief Operating Officer Christopher Bell and began developing the website.

Together, we have banded together to make change, one high score at a time.

Who are your partners right now?

Charities

Our charity partners include:

• ACCESS - Boston-based ACCESS provides free financial aid advice and advocacy to students to ensure that young people have the financial information and resources necessary to achieve their dream of a higher education.
• American Heart Association - The American Heart Association exists to conquer our nation's No. 1 and No. 3 killers heart disease and stroke. It does this by discovering, adapting, and delivering scientific knowledge.
• City Year City Year unites young people of all backgrounds for a year of full-time service, giving them the skills and opportunities to change the world.
• Do Something - DoSomething.org provides the tools and resources for teenagers to convert their ideas and energy into positive action, striving to help them become a generation of doers.
• Feeding America Feeding America is the nation's leading domestic hunger-charity with a network of over 200 food banks. We provide food assistance to more than 25 million people in the United States, including more than 9 million children.
• Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America IAVA is the nation's first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans.
• Jumpstart - Jumpstart's mission is to ensure that every child in America enters school prepared with the tools to succeed.
• Mercy Corps - Mercy Corps helps people in the world's toughest places turn the crises of natural disaster, poverty and conflict into opportunities for progress.
• Ronald McDonald House Charities - The mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities is to create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children.
• United Way The United Way is a national network of nearly 1,300 local organizations that work to advance the common good by focusing on education, income and health.
• U.S. Fund for UNICEF - The U.S. Fund for UNICEF was founded in 1947 to support the work of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) by raising funds for and increasing awareness of the challenges facing the world's children.
• Wilderness Society - The Wilderness Society's mission is to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. Founded in 1935, we have helped secure permanent protection for 109 million acres of wilderness.

Advertisers

The current advertisers include:

• Dial Soap
• Domino's Pizza
• Starbucks Frap
• Mastercard
• Pepsi
• Propel
•  Quaker

How are the charities selected to benefit from GTG?

We selected our charities based on innovation, cause area, and outreach potential. At GamesThatGive, we looked for charities that will not only benefit from the money we raise, but embrace the functionality of the platform; organizations who understand the potential of casual games. We also wanted to have a diverse group of charities represented on the site, so no matter who came to play our games, they would find an organization or an issue that they would be motivated to play for. And lastly, we wanted to welcome organizations who believed in our new concept of charitable fundraising video games, and were willing to help us grow the platform, by welcoming their audience, and by providing us feedback and guidance on how to continue improving.

What are your big goals, pie-in-the-sky style, for GTG?

GamesThatGive was created to help people raise massive amounts of money for charity. Beyond that, we want to change the way people think about how they spend their free time—instead of just playing casual games, they can play their favorite casual games and help to teach kids to read, feed hungry families, or prevent someone from getting Malaria in Africa. We want to be a game changer.

What has been the response so far?

In the first two months the site has been live, as a beta, the results that we have seen confirm that our innovative fundraising concept, which combines the existing behavior of casual game play with an opportunity to raise money charities, while also promoting brands and providing users with coupons and other promotions, has the potential to change the way we raise money for charity. We're seeing, on average, visitors spending more than 13 minutes playing games on the site per visit, more than 3.5x the benchmark for casual gaming sites of similar size.

In addition, each GamesThatGive user visits the site nearly 2 times per day! Our promotional efforts only began last week, but we are about to pass 5,000 registered users. Press and bloggers are starting to buzz about the project. Most importantly, people are playing games and raising money.

How can people start playing?

Log on to www.gamesthatgive.net and start playing. Or, log on to our Facebook application and start playing. That's it!