Yesterday, I received a new twist on the traditional holiday greeting by Karo Group, a strategic branding agency based in Calgary, AB. Instead of either a traditional printed card or even a simple e-card with a generic message, I received a gift from Karo—a donation made on my behalf to the charitable organization of my choice.

Donations to worthy causes on behalf of someone aren’t new. But here’s the clever bit—Karo asked me where I’d like to see the $10,000 go. I was able to select from a list of ten organizations, ranging from local groups like the Union Gospel and nationwide causes such as the Boys and Girls Club to international outfits, like a project to reduce the effect of poverty on women living in Ghana.

I applaud Karo for recognizing the growth of online voting competitions for social good like Pepsi’s Refresh Project and Aviva’s Community Grand Fund and then adapting the interactive features for their holiday message. They didn’t just produce another card, but got me engaged enough to visit their site and then vote. Now, I’m part of the process.

But I’m going to be a little picky about the messaging once they got me to their site. Since Karo is well-known for their rebranding work, their message was to rebrand me from “Naughty” to “Nice” via the donation. Okay—I like how they hit their key message while working in the holidays. But from a user design perspective, they didn’t tie the Naughty/Nice buttons from the first screen closely enough to the rebranding message on the next screen—in other words, it took me a couple of times to pull it altogether. Don’t make visitors work that hard!

Overall, I think Karo Group showcased real creativity with their holiday gift to me. Nice work!

Opening Screenshot

Voting Screenshot