The Story of SMS Donations for Disaster Relief
Text-to-donate programs have taken off in such a big way that it’s hard to recall quite when they started. Hurricane Katrina, certainly, was an early milestone, the first major disaster to collect SMS donations as part of the relief effort. Since then, organizations like the Red Cross and Christian Aid have increasingly focused on text-to-donate. It’s much more convenient for well-meaning but time-poor citizens who want to help but won’t go through the rigmarole of entering credit card details online.
Since Katrina, the victims of every major global disaster have in some way benefitted from SMS donations, but the concept of engaging the public en masse via their mobile devices has it’s roots in something more trivial: American Idol.
Yes, the glorified talent contest. That American Idol. From the time the show launched in 2002, the voting system used to determine the public’s favorite singing sensation was largely SMS-based. It helped inspire AT&T engineer Marian Croak to develop a similar use for text messaging as a disaster relief tool during the aftermath of Katrina in 2005.
Rather than submitting votes via SMS, Croak came up with a way of allowing donors to give money simply by sending a text, the charge for which would show up on their next bill. She readily admits the soaring popularity of American Idol helped the general public get used to the idea of engaging with large organizations via SMS messaging. A poll conducted by her employers in 2008 found 22% of respondents reported to having learned to text as a direct result of the hit show’s voting system. The subsequent upsurge in text messaging undoubtedly contributed to the readiness of a mass audience to use the technology in new ways.
After the success of the Katrina relief program, SMS messaging took it’s place in the donation landscape, proving to be the perfect method for contributing ‘impulse’ donations. The relief effort for the 2010 earthquake in Haiti raised an unprecedented $30 million from SMS messaging. The bulk of the money came from single $10 donations but perhaps most significantly, text-to-donate allows organizations like the Red Cross to build a database of donors, making it easier to reach out for help during future crises.
The good news for charities and non-profit organizations is that AT&T, who patented Croak’s donation system in 2005, have no plans to monetize it. SMS messaging has proven the most effective way of getting more people to donate money to good causes, and long may it continue.
The good news for charities and non-profit organizations is that AT&T, who patented Croak’s donation system in 2005, have no plans to monetize it. SMS messaging has proven the most effective way of getting more people to donate money to good causes, and long may it continu.Since Katrina, the victims of every major global disaster have in some way benefitted from SMS donations, but the concept of engaging the public en masse via their mobile devices has it’s roots in something more trivial: American Idol. Thanks for the share science reading the article, please do share more like this with us.
Posted by: Linda Peters | 07/01/2017 at 02:44 PM