From Facebook to Path, downloadable stickers are the big thing in mobile messaging right now. But Line, the Japanese app that started the trend, has used the revenue-generating potential for good; it's just announced that a charity sticker pack has raised ¥57.4 million (about $552,000) for victims of the devastating Typhoon Haiyan, which wreaked havoc on the Philippines last month. That figure is the total left over after Apple and Google took their transaction fee cuts.

The "Pray for the Philippines" pack includes eight stickers featuring Line's popular characters and costs the equivalent of $1 around the world. It went on sale on November 15th and will be available until the end of the year, at which point Line will donate proceeds to the Philippine Red Cross and announce the final amount raised. Stickers are big business by now — Line brings in around $10 million a month in sales of the oversized emoji — but the charity campaign demonstrates how they can be a swift and effective tool for fundraising.