Kelly Ripa Launches Text-A-Thon Campaign with MobileCause to benefit Ovarian Cancer Research

During September, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, you can help us raise funds and awareness to support the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Donate $5 now to help fund research to find a cure.

Plus, every day you log on to Kelly Confidential, you'll be entered for a chance to win a front load washer and dryer in Turquoise Sky, the color inspired by the teal ribbon of ovarian cancer awareness.

MobileCause provided the Text2Give solution that allows donations to be made through a caller's mobile phone.

The #1 Charity to follow on Twitter is...

Note: We just added a cool new app called Apture. Try clicking on the links in this article...it brings up info and videos without leaving the page.

According to Paste Magazine Twitter offers one of the best ways to connect with charities and Charity: Water does it better than anyone. We're thrilled to have entered into a new partnership with Charity: Water to enable anyone with a phone to donate by simply sending a one word text message. We'll let you know as soon as the campaign kicks in. In the meantime, follow our friends on Twitter (you could be follower #565,607). By the way, have you seen Jennifer Connelly in this amazing video promo?





In the same article, we noticed another one of our clients made #6 in the Best Charities on Twitter list. Our friends at Invisible Children have done an amazing job of utilizing social media to spread the word about the atrocities in Uganda and the children who are forced to be soldiers in Joseph Kony's army. Show your support for them by texting RESCUE to 20222 to donate $5. This is a brand new campaign (Verizon customers may have to wait a week or two more before it is active). Remember, your tax-deductible donation will show up on your phone bill. Follow Invisible Children on Twitter.

By the way, are you following MobileCause on Twitter?

Do you know of a great cause that could use some help connecting with new audiences and donors via mobile? Let us know...

When times are tough, the tough throw a free music festival. For 35,000 people.

Let Free Ring! Virgin Mobile USA Announces 2009 "FreeFest" to Give Back in Bad Economy

Weezer, Blink-182, Franz Ferdinand, and Public Enemy Plus More Than a Dozen Others Scheduled to Perform August 30, 2009

Speculation and predictions that have filled blogs and discussion boards can be put to rest. The Virgin Mobile Festival is returning, but with a catch. Admission will be free.

Virgin Mobile USA, creator of one of the largest and most critically acclaimed music festivals in the U.S., announced today that it would host the 2009 Virgin Mobile FreeFest on Sunday, August 30, at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD., with admission free of charge. All tickets will be given away, and previous Virgin Mobile Festival ticket buyers and Virgin Mobile customers will have the first crack at securing the 35,000 tickets.

"In a time of economic challenges and daily sacrifices, we wanted to throw a fantastic party so people could let loose and have a great time -- on us," said Sir Richard Branson, Founder and President, Virgin Group. "Virgin Mobile FreeFest offers music fans a brilliant day of fun and music and a chance for them to give back to those even less fortunate."

To respond to the sharp decrease in national social giving, Virgin Mobile FreeFest will also host a special VIP seating area for those who donate their time to community service at designated homeless youth shelters around the country. Virgin Mobile is also encouraging people, regardless of wireless carrier, to text "FREEFEST" to 20222, with a $5 donation which will go to select youth homeless centers around the country.In parntership with MobileCause.

http://twurl.nl/fc563s

Estimated $5 Million Raised via Text Donations this Year

Why ask potential donors to pull out their checkbook or credit card when they are inclined to give?

As I mentioned in a blog post months ago, Micro-Giving will be the hottest fundraising trend of 2009. According to an article today, VeriSign and the Mobile Giving Foundation expect that more than $5 million will be raised this year via mobile charitable giving.

Text donations (MobileCause is one of the few ASPs provisioned thru all major carriers) take a matter of seconds for web-savvy Gen-Y-ers and the charge shows up on their phone bill.

As MobileCause has been doing for the past 3 years with our Text2Broadcast platform, more nonprofits will also encourage donors to opt into mobile programs to receive alerts, updates and news of events through SMS messages. Personalized messages will also improve the relationship between nonprofit and donor, especially in these hard economic times when charities normally struggle for funds and attention.

Read more about this and other mobile trends in today's article on Mobile Marketing.

Ten Reasons Mobile Giving will be the Bright Spot in Fundraising for 2009...

This post is a response to a commentary made by a traditional fundraising consultancy.

"One major question we continue to ask ourselves is what is the value of a $5 text donation? Our traditional fundraising research shows us that donors who give low dollar amounts (such as $5), have a commensurately low lifetime donor value. Often, we’ve found that the cost to cultivate (i.e. mail, email, call, etc.) these donors exceeds the donation income they provide. In other words, we end up LOSING money in cultivating donors who give very small amounts."

First of all, I'm glad they're bringing attention to micro-giving. We believe (along with Forrester Research, Mobile Marketer, and others) that micro-giving will be one of the trends to watch in 2009 and following. They are correct that in previous "traditional research," small one-time donors may have a lower lifetime value, but these studies have not accounted for the new developments in text donations.

Here are 10 reasons why Text Donations will be the be the trend to watch and why every Cause should consider adding Mobile to their Donor Engagement tool belt.

1. Turns a mobile phone user into a donor in less than a minute (no credit card, web access, phone operators necessary!)
2. Donation is tax-deductible and shows up on the caller’s phone bill.
3. Engages the donor at the closest point of emotional engagement. (we carry our phones at all times!)
4. Caller can text-donate up to 5 times per month (5x per billing cycle)
   
5. $10 donations are now possible (as of March 2009)
6. Recurring donations will be available soon. That means sending a one-word text message instantly turns a caller into a $120/year donor! Wow.
7. The Call-to-Action couldn’t be easier to remember–across all types of media channels. Pick up your mobile phone and try this sample: text GIVE to 27138. (no donation will be transacted. It is a sample to show how easy it is)
   
8. Used in conjunction with other mobile engagement tools (like text2broadcast and text2screen), organizations can build consistent and lasting relationships with donors.
9. As of 2008, all major carriers have waived 100% of their fees for approved 501c-3 orgs who partner with a qualified service provider like MobileCause. (Elsewhere in the world, the carriers still charge up to 50%)
   
10. Response rates have shown to be 10%-40% compared to 1% - 3% for direct mail and other types of donor acquisition methods.

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Things are moving extremely fast with Mobile Technology and we are thrilled to partner with the Mobile Giving Foundation to help organizations like Open Doors, Focus on the Family, Invisible Children, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Sparrow Clubs and so many others fulfill their mission in effective new ways.

Follow us on Twitter and let us know how we can help you Mobilize your Cause.

Every Non-profit should have mobile Tools

excerpted from Mickey Alam Khan's post today

Average individual donations are falling to below the $10-level, especially when large nonprofits such as the American Red Cross suck up all the household charity budgets during hurricanes and large-scale calamities.

So it is critical for smaller nonprofits, and even the bigger charities such as the Red Cross or The Salvation Army, to raise donations by text to rapidly respond to emergencies.

The Red Cross, for example, has successfully worked with the wireless carriers to encourage $5 donations for its disaster relief fund. The organization raised more than $200,000 in its most recent September through December appeal.

Subscribers of participating wireless carriers can donate $5 up to five times per month by texting the keyword GIVE to 2HELP (24357).

Charges for these donations will appear on the subscriber’s mobile phone bill each month. They can also be debited from prepaid account balances for those mobile consumers without a contract.

Standard text messaging rates may apply to those texted donations.

Other charities can follow the Red Cross’ example. Publicize the short code on the direct mail, email and Web sites. Encourage donors to sign up with the mobile program. Strike a similar billing relationship as the Red Cross did with the carriers and also work with an SMS aggregator.

Building a mobile database not only will save smaller charities in these hard-pressed times, but will also result in repeat donations.

Mobile also cuts creative, printing and postage costs out of a charity’s operations. Thus, a larger percentage of the donations can go to the actual cause for which the funds are raised.

Giving Predictions for 2009

Charlene Li of Forrester Research (and co-author of Groundswell) just released her emerging media predictions for 2009. At the top of the list? A mention of Charitable Giving:

Non-profits will recognize the potential of bringing on these virtual community organizers, especially their ability to raise money in tiny increments in a down economy. So despite a raging recession, charitable giving will new numerous new -- albeit smaller -- sources of contributions.

read more