When I first read a friend’s status update on Facebook saying he’d just donated $10 to Haitian relief through the Red Cross using his cell phone, I leapt at the chance to do the same. I’d been reading about the disaster, and wanted to do something (albeit small) to help.
AlI had to do was text “Haiti” to a five-digit number to have the charge appear on my cell phone bill. Within minutes, I had received a text message asking me to confirm my $10 donation by texting back “Yes,” which I did. I then received a confirmation of my donation, with yet another chance to change my mind by texting “Stop.” The whole thing took a matter of minutes.
“The great thing about this is it gives you a much easier way of making your donation,” Stuart Johnson, who also texted a donation to the Red Cross, told the Houston Chronicle. “It’s really convenient when all you have to do is punch in a couple of numbers.”
According to the Mobile Giving Foundation in Seattle, in the first 36 hours after the quake, people used text messaging to make over $7 million in donations to Haiti. The Chronicle reports that experts are calling it the most successful outpouring of mobile giving to date.
Anyone with a cell phone and an account with a major wireless provider can join the millions who have already donated via text message. However, before you do, the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance has some great advice for you to consider, not the least of which is the fact that donations made by text message often don’t reach the charity in question for a full 30 to 90 days after you send your text.
Still, here is a sampling of reputable mobile giving campaigns currently underway, as reported by the San Francisco Business Times.
Red Cross: Text “Haiti” to 90999 and donate $10 to the Red Cross, which says it has already raised $5 million.
Yele Haiti: The Yele Haiti campaign, the leading contributor to rebuilding Haiti founded by Wyclef Jean. Donate $5 to by texting “YELE” to 501501.
Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International: Text HAITI to 85944 to donate $5.
Internal Rescue Committee: Text HAITI to 25383 to donate $5.
United Way Worldwide: Text HAITI to 864833 to donate $5 to the disaster fund for long-term recovery.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
