However, in February Mobile Accord, a mobile application service provider that works with nonprofits, universities, faith organizations, and political organizations to create mobile donating campaigns, became the first organization to allow 100% of mobile donations to pass through the Mobile Giving Foundation, which it sponsors.
Text donations are particularly appealing because of their instantaneous nature and the fact that virtually everyone has a cell phone with the capacity to send text messages. Mobile Accord’s website extols the convenience of such a form of charity:
''Imagine the next time you’re at an event, a concert, a rally or a lecture; when you’ve been moved to make a difference. Now imagine if all you had to do to make that difference was send a text message! Can you imagine if everyone around you did the same thing?''
At this year’s Super Bowl, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots appeared in a 10-second spot supporting United Way’s youth fitness programs by asking viewers to text ''FIT'' to ''862833,'' which donates $5 charged to the contributor’s cell phone bill.
In addition to actual donations given by text, text messages can be used to raise awareness of different issues and charitable campaigns. According to HealthLeaders Media’s website, St. Baldrick’s, the world’s largest volunteer-driven fundraising campaign for childhood cancer research, initiated a new method for raising awareness of its cause.
In 2000 St. Baldrick’s began focusing on volunteers supporting children and families affected by cancer by raising money to ''go bald.'' Since 2000 more than 46,000 people have shaved their heads for the campaign, and it has raised more than $34 million for childhood cancer research.
The campaign has recently launched a T-shirt operation that raises awareness of the cause through texting. One shirt says, ''Ask me why I’m bald'' and ''Text Bald to 41411 to find out why,'' and if an individual’s curiosity causes him or her to do this, an automatic response of ''Because I stand in solidarity w/ the 160,000 kids who are diagnosed w/ cancer each year. Go to StBaldrick.org to help!'' is sent. The new campaign has been quite successful so far, and proceeds from the T-shirt sales also go to St. Baldrick’s.
The website textually.org lists more than 75 charities that can be donated to through text messaging. Some campaigns that it posts on its site include the Pink Ribbon Text Campaign to Support Breast Cancer, the Belgian League for the Blind, the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, the Kimse Yok Mu Darfur Campaign, and the American Red Cross.
Texting as a fundraising method has been highly successful in the few years since it came into being and is expected to be an even more popular means of charity donations in the coming years.
