Walgreens to donate a flu shot for each foursquare checkin
There are lots of things you can get by checking in on foursquare, from badges to discounts, but one of my favorites is charitable donations. Walgreens is the latest company to offer a donation when you check in on foursquare, but instead of pennies or dollars, they’re donating flu shots — up to 200,000 of them.
The offer starts today and runs through October 8. Any time a user checks in on foursquare (or Facebook Places), Walgreens will donate a flu-shot voucher to someone in need through their Way to Well Commitment program.
Walgreens is asking users to help choose the organizations that will receive the flu shots with a vote on their Facebook page. Each group gets a percentage of the flu shot vouchers based on where they place in the vote. The organizations that will be getting vouchers are Feeding America, the National Urban League, AmeriCares, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the American Diabetes Association.
Customers are being alerted to the program through large stickers placed on each checkout counter (shown above).
Checkins are a fun way for corporations to determine giving levels. It’s a worthwhile metric that makes customers (at least those familiar with checkin services) a sense that they’re actually doing something when they check in. The “we’ll donate X for every dollar you spend” programs never really resonated with me, but checkins are something I can get behind.
So.. I saw this, as it comes up as a “special”, today when I checked in to Walgreens,before I read this post.
I thought this was so great!
I went back to the Pharmacy counter and asked how it was being done..OR.. how do I know that my check-in, will in fact, count towards a donation? Do I get a voucher or something?
After the 2 techs and 1 pharmacist marveled at the unlocked “special” screen, they eventually said.. “Um.. I dont know, maybe check your email or Facebook or something?”
So.. my question is:
How are these “check-ins” counting towards donated flu shots?
I know Walgreens is very active within “foursquare”, and I think this is a AWESOME promotion!
Ideas? Input?
My guess is that they’ll simply download their statistics from foursquare and add them all up in Excel. I don’t think it need to be an exact number for the gesture to count.
[...] went online to learn more about the offer, and it turns out that through October 8th, Walgreens will donate one flu voucher for every valid foursquare or Facebook Places check-in. And you can go onto their Facebook page to [...]
[...] shot vouchers (worth $6M) to uninsured and underinsured individuals.  Donations are triggered by store check-ins on Foursquare and Facebook Places, and Facebook fans can vote to determine the proportion of [...]