January 2009
26 posts
Mobile Giving 101: Provisioning Short Codes For...
A short code is a special 5 or 6 digit phone number, usually used by companies and organizations for interactive text messaging campaigns. They are designed to be shorter to read and easier to remember than regular phone numbers. In order to get a short code, you must apply through the CSCA and get approval for the specific program(s) you want to run. For example, a short code can be approved...
An Interview with Jim Manis of the MGF
A couple months ago, the Mobile Commons blog published an interview with Jim Manis, the Chairman and CEO of the Mobile Giving Foundation. The content is still very relevant, so we wanted to link to the original post.
In the interview, Jim discusses his background, the role of the Mobile Giving Foundation, some of the operational hurdles getting mobile giving off the ground, plus some optimistic...
Mobile Giving 101: The Life Cycle of a Mobile...
There are four states in the life cycle of a mobile donation: Pending, Accepted, Declined, or Rejected.
The typical message flow of a mobile donation is as follows:
1. A donation is initiated by a user, either by texting a keyword or filling out a web form, and a message is immediately sent to the Mobile Giving Foundation.
2. The MGF triggers a text message to the user’s phone asking...
Introducing Mobile Giving 101
As part of this blog, we are going to write an ongoing series of posts detailing all the ins and outs about how mobile donations work. We’re calling the series “Mobile Giving 101”. We’re planning to cover a wide range topics, ranging from technical implementation details to best practices for executing on strategy.
If there are any specific topics you’d like...
http://twitter.com/mobile_giving →
Mobile Giving Insider is up and running on Twitter too! We’ll be tweeting over there with interesting little links that don’t make the blog, so follow us if you want all the details. We’re also auto-tweeting when we publish new articles on the blog. Let us know if you find that helpful or too noisy.
Case Study: Mobile Giving at Live Events
The team over at mGive has just released a whitepaper based on their experience working with Alicia Keys and Keep a Child Alive. Some of the interesting bits:
During her concerts singer Alicia Keys stops halfway through her show, dims the house lights, and asks concertgoers to pull out their cell phone and donate $5 to Keep a Child Alive by texting ‘ALIVE’ to 90999. The instructions for the...
Send a Cell Phone Text Message to Combat Childhood... →
SF Gate has a story about the new giving campaign launched by Share Our Strength, an organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger.
The campaign is sponsored by AT&T and the Communications Workers of America. AT&T has agreed to match all donations up to $100,000.
Update: Beth Kanter & Chris Brogan also have nice writeups about the campaign. They each discuss mobile giving and...
1 tag
“1997=$300k in overall mobile donations. 2009 projected to be $5 million. NGOs...”
– @bigguyd on Twitter this morning.
Ed. note: I think he means $300,000 raised online in 1997 compared to $5 million mobile in 2009, but his last point reads loud and clear!
2 tags
Digital 2.0 Tools to Enhance & Expand Your Reach →
Joel Richman, Scott Beaudoin, Richard Greif and Laura Tomasetti presented this morning at the Digital Marketing Techniques for Non-Profits conference in Boston.
They discuss social media include Facebook, Twitter, mobile advocacy and mobile giving. Their slides are available on Slideshare.
4 tags
Beth's Blog: Will Your Nonprofit Embrace Free... →
While this post isn’t directly about Mobile Giving, it’s a very thorough and interesting analysis by Beth Kanter. She discusses her efforts to raise funds on behalf of an NGO using her personal social network. Other closely related technologies include Twitter with TipJoy and Facebook Causes.
It’s a must-read for anyone looking to use new technology tools and media to...
1 tag
More Organizations Embrace the Mobile Giving... →
Over on the mGive blog, they welcome three new non-profits who have just launched mobile giving programs: The Rotatary Foundation, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association Foundation. Welcome, and good luck to all your programs!
Try it! text POLIO to 90999 to donate to the Rotary Foundation
Try it! text WOLF to 90999 to donate to the Defenders of Wildlife
Try...
“What if you could get a $5 donation and send a personalized thank you note? What...”
– Matt Wilson, on the Mobile Commons blog. His New Years resolution was to take mobile giving to the next level in 2009!
2 tags
WatchBig Cat Rescue recently launched a mobile giving program to raise funds to rescue a liger and 2 tigers! Their campaign was started with videos on You Tube showcasing the big cats and urging people to donate. The first 50 people to give get an animal print, unisex bracelet that says “I support Big Cat Rescue.”
Try it! Text LIGER to 20222 to donate $5 to Big Cat Rescue
Mobile Giving Case Study: Using Radio to Collect... →
The mGive blog has a nice case study about using radio as a call to action for mobile donations. KIIS FM, based in Los Angeles, hosted an on-air fundraiser with radio personality Ryan Seacrest to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. They were able to raise almost $9,000 via text message donations!
Try it! Text CHOC to 90999 to donate $5 to The Children’s Hospital of Orange...
AT&T No Longer Requires QPass for Mobile Donations
Up until very recently, AT&T required the use of the Amdocs/QPass system for mobile donations. If a user texted GIVE to a giving shortcode, the confirmation text would come back from a different number - a special AT&T number. This made for a pretty confusing user experience.
AT&T has recently changed their policy, allowing the confirmation request to come from the shortcode...
Mobile donations may grow tenfold from $500,000 in... →
From the article
Mobile donations are said to have crossed $500,000 in 2008, indicating the growing acceptance of a new channel for nonprofits to raise funds for causes.
This is obviously a really encouraging statistic for everyone. Let’s hope this number continues to grow as predicted in 2009!
Test
4 tags
Resources
Application Service Providers
There are a number of application service providers currently working with the Mobile Giving Foundation to enable non-profits to manage their mobile giving campaigns.
Contact the individual vendors for more information about features and pricing.
Mobile Commons
Mobile Accord/mGive
Distributive Networks
Mobile Cause
Wireless Factory
As a non-profit, you...
Test
FAQ
What is mobile giving? In 2008, the US telecom carriers started processing charitable donations given via SMS text message. A user texts a keyword to a special number and $5 will be deducted from their phone bill and given to the non-profit. Who is eligible for mobile giving? Currently US non-profits with 501(c)3 status are eligible. What is the end-user experience? How does someone give with...
“What if you could get a $5 donation and send a personalized thank you note? What...”
– Mobile Commons Blog
About Mobile Giving
Overview
Mobile Giving is a charitable donation process where an individual can make a contribution to a non-profit organization via text message. The donation shows up at the end of the month as an addition to their phone bill
Some of the first cases of Mobile Giving were based around natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, where calls to raise funds could be broadcast by mass media....