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Mobile Giving: The Future of Fundraising?
March 2010

As a fundraiser, you have probably heard about the recent – and phenomenal – success of raising money via text message from a mobile phone. This was particularly apparent during the recent Haiti earthquake disaster relief, when the Red Cross raised more than $32 million in just one month following the January 12 quake. In fact, more than three million people made donations to the American Red Cross this way.

At some periods during the month, more than 100,000 transactions were made in one hour alone!

These kinds of numbers make mobile giving look very attractive – especially for reaching the younger generation: the so-called Millennials. You can read a good analysis on mobile giving here, published by Convio and Sea Change Strategy.

Mobile giving may not be for every organization or for every campaign, but it can be a great approach if the time and cause are right. Do the research so that you have the strategies in place now – or the numbers to give to your Board chair when he/she inevitably asks about it!

Schultz & Williams is a national consulting firm based in Philadelphia; providing management, fundraising and marketing consulting for nonprofit organizations, along with full-service direct marketing, database and creative/production services.