MobileActive.org

NEW! Third MobileActive Guide Released: Mobile Phones in Fundraising Campaigns

Radio and Text Donations: "This American Life's" Experience with Mobile Giving

We’ve written before about mobile giving during disasters, and the dramatic results such campaigns can have. But mobile giving can be used for non disaster-related fundraising drives as well and This American Life, a show on the US public radio network, is one of the latest organizations to embrace this trend.

Mobile Benchmarks 2010: How Are Non-Profits Using Text Messaging?

We are releasing today the first-ever Nonprofit Text Messaging Benchmark Study (PDF) The study, sponsored by Mobile Commons and mGive, takes a look at how organizations in the United States are using text messaging and how subscribers are responding.  It reveals that mobile phones are becoming increasingly popular for advocacy with organizations.

Written by Michael Amoruso and Jessica Bosanko of M+R Strategic Services and Katrin Verclas of MobileActive.org, the report “provides benchmarks and metrics by which nonprofit organizations can measure their success with text messaging and illustrate the various ways in which organizations are using text messages.”

The earthquakes in Haiti earlier this year showed that SMS can be a powerful tool for fundraising (raising millions in just a few days); it’s clear that the time is ripe for non-profits to tap into the mobile market in order to engage their supporters. According to the Mobile Benchmark study (PDF), there are currently over 276 million wireless users in the U.S. and during the first half of 2009, users sent about 740 billion text messages. The report breaks down not only how non-profits can use SMS to interact with supporters, but also releases statistics on how specific organizations fared with their SMS campaigns.

Texting for Charitable Dollars: The Definitive Guide to Mobile Fundraising

This article was written by Jesse Feiler and edited by Katrin Verclas.

In the last few week, nonprofits in the United States have started to pay attention to fundraising via text - donations delivered to charities by donors simple sending a text message.

In aftermath of the January 2010 Haiti earthquake text donations to the Red Cross and other charities received enormous publicity, and generated a significant outpouring of donations. (SMS is an alternate term for text message – a160 character message sent over the mobile network)

SMS Text Donations and the Haiti Earthquake

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, relief organizations in the United States and Europe have been able to collect substantial numbers of donations from SMS fundraising campaigns. Just like after the 2004 Tsunami in Southeast Asia, the numbers are impressive. Two charities alone, the Red Cross Foundation and Yele, collected more than $4.7 million by mid-day Thursday (less than 48 hours after the first earthquake hit). UPDATE: The Red Cross has raised close to $20 million via its SMS campaign as of January 17th.  

Industry insiders had expected $2 million in text message donations for all of 2009 at the end of October. However, a natural disaster of the gravity and dimension of the earthquake in Haiti has jumpstarted the awareness of aid organizations as to the potential power of raising funds quickly via SMS.   

Mobile Fundraising: A MobileActive Webinar (US)

Mobile phones aren’t just for calls anymore. Text messaging and web-enabled phones have made it possible for individuals to donate via their cell phone. In this MobileActive/NTEN webinar, we’ll explore how mobile fundraising works in North America from both a user and an implementation perspective. Then, we’ll discuss what it takes to implement a campaign, as well as the challenges and opportunities for using mobiles to augment your fundraising strategies.

WHEN? Thursday, March 6, 3 pm Eastern Time (-5 GMT)
WHERE? Online! > Register Today!

WHAT WILL I LEARN? How a mobile fundraising campaign works, what the challenges and opportunities are, what to expect for a return, and costs and needs to implement a campaign.

Register Today!

Is mobile giving about to take off in the United States?

Mobile donations to nonprofits have been stymied in the United States - hampered by the high fees charged for text message gifts that are then billed to a mobile phone customer.

When a donor gives to a nonprofit via text, more than half of the contribution goes to the telephone carrier, leaving less than 50% to the nonprofit, an unacceptable margin for most charities. Combined with low donation caps -- no more than $5 per SMS with a total of five SMS for a $25 donation -- and other charges for short codes and mobile vendors, nonprofits have determined that mobile giving is not worth it.

This is about to change.

If the Mobile Giving Foundation plays its cards right, mobile donations via text message may just explode this year.

Watch Football, Text in and Donate to Fight Childhood Obesity

In the quintessential American past-time of football, Super Bowl Sunday, the finale of the season, takes on a special meaning. In the middle of the usual high-profile commercials that can cost $3 million for 30-seconds of air time, viewers will see a 10-second United Way television ad asking users to donate via SMS to a campaign fighting childhood obesity. The ad will premier during the Super Bowl game this Sunday, and will continue to run until the summer.

The ad features the voice of Tom Brady of one of the teams, the New England Patriots, and is a 10-second animated spot sponsored by the United Way. Tom Brady says,

You don't have to be an NFL player to help kids get fit in your community. Do your part, text FIT to "United" to give $5 to United Way's youth fitness. A little "U" goes a long way.

Clever Social Marketing/Mobile Campaign#1: Use Your Hyve to Save a Life - Social Network Fundraising with SMS

Hyves, the 5-million-peope strong Dutch social network, has a clever HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, combining social network and viral marketing with mobile fundraising.

Use your Hyve to save a Life is a campaign from STOP AIDS NOW!. If you are in the Netherlands, you can send a text message to donate 1 Euro to the campaign.

Igor Beuker writes on his blog:

Is mobile fundraising the next frontier for charities?

The numbers speak for themselves: There are currently 236 million cell phone users in the U.S. – an astounding 76% penetration. In December of last year alone, 18.7 billion text messages were sent — up 92% from 9.7 billion in December 2005. Estimates for this year are topping 195 billion text messages sent in 2007. That is 600 million text messages a day.

Needless to say, fundraisers and nonprofits are salivating at the potential of reaching all of these people where they are, at the moment they are moved by a cause, and when they are able to GIVE – with their thumbs.

Mobile fundraising for worthwhile causes are indeed beginning to make headlines. So what is the truth behind the hype? What can fundraisers and nonprofits promoting a cause do and expect as results, and what creative ideas have gone untapped so far?

Bangladeshi Cyclon Relief: Fundraising Via SMS

Bangla blogging platform Somewherein,together with Save the Children, has launched an SMS fundraising campaign thay call “Jagoron” (‘the awakening') to generate funds from within Bangladesh to support Sidr victims.

A mobile phone user texts the keyword 'SAVE' to the given number. Each SMS costs Bangladeshi Taka (BDT)2. Somewherein and other sponsors add a donation to each SMS generated -- currently 15BDT (this amount goes up as more corporate sponsors join the campaign) for every BDT2 generated with the total amount going to the Save the Children Cyclone Relief Fund.

The service is available to Bangladeshi residents only.