One of the most catastrophic natural disasters in recent history has been met with more than $22 million in $5 and $10 text-message donations, an unprecedented show of charitable giving made possible by the ease of small-scale mobile donations. And beyond these times of need, micro-support is gaining traction as a straightforward, accessible way for everyday people to support the causes they believe in, finance promising new businesses, and make their creative visions a reality in small, easy steps. – AdAge
Years ago, during a time of need such as this, most would have directed people online to make quick, easy and secure donations to help provide support. Raising funds online has now become the norm, and as many politicians, political groups and non-profits have demonstrated that it can lead to unprecedented success. However, taking that trend of pervasive, efficient donation campaigns to the next level is doing so via text messages.
The devastating situation in Haiti has demonstrated the widespread effect that a text message donation campaign can have on mass support and charitable giving. Many are attributing the huge success of the campaign to the fact that the barrier to entry is so low; most can afford to lump on an extra $5 to $10 to their phone bill, especially for a cause that they believe strongly in, and it takes all of thirty seconds to donate. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
As the AdAge article points out making micro-donations easily accessible, especially via mobile phones, opens completely new doors to reaching new and diverse audiences. And, with over 75 percent of the US population using cell phones, it only makes sense to take it to the mobile playing field.
Photo: The U.S. Army
Tags: Haiti, Integrated Web Strategy, IWS, mobile campaigns, mobile marketing, Red Cross, text to donate
