UNICEFs Trick-Or-Treat Box Gets A High-Tech Upgrade

If you're under 60 years old and living in the U.S., chances are pretty high that you once toted UNICEF's orange Trick or Treat box from house to house on Halloween night, gathering change to give to the humanitarian organization. This coming Halloween, things will be a little different: The boxes will be outfitted with Microsoft Tags so that donors can choose to give online in addition to (or instead of) dropping change in the boxes themselves.

The idea originally stemmed from a Microsoft and PSFK-sponsored study that looked at ways to increase fundraising using mobile technology. UNICEF is still working out the details, but the new program will go something like this: Users scan the Microsoft Tag (a kind of QR code) on the side of the UNICEF boxes with their cell phones. They are brought to a special Trick or Treat website featuring activities for kids and perhaps most importantly, educational information and facts about where UNICEF's dollars are going.