Ez Texting SMS Marketing News

As you probably already know, Haiti has been devastated by 7.0 magnitude earthquake:

The earthquake, the worst in the region in more than 200 years, left the country in a shambles. As night fell in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, fires burned near the shoreline downtown, but otherwise the city fell into darkness. The electricity was out, telephones were not working and relief workers struggled to make their way through streets blocked by rubble.

So what can you do to help? The New York Times has a collection of information. If you want to donate money to relief efforts right now, using your cell phone, you have three options:

• You can text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
• To make a $5 donation from your phone text "ONEHEART" to 85944 & confirm by replying "YES", or go to www.sophiasheart.org to make a donation.
• Text the word “Haiti” to 85944 to donate $5 on behalf of the Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International.
• Text the word “Haiti” to 25383 to donate $5 On behalf of the Internal Rescue Committee.
• Or, you can donate $5 to Earthquake Relief In Haiti by texting YELE to 501501 and visit www.yele.org (supported by Wycelf Jean)
  

P.S.  In the past we've covered other mobile-based charity efforts. Read about them.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a grant program that will have interesting effects in the mobile banking sector:

"There's 1.7 billion people in the emerging markets who don't have a bank account but do have a mobile phone, so they could use their mobile phone to conduct financial transactions," explained Michael O'Hara, marketing director or the GSMA.

"The target is to reach 20 million additional unbanked people with the service by 2012," he added.

About 12 mobile phone banking programmes have been launched worldwide in the last few years, with about 10 million users benefiting so far.

The Gates Foundation said the grant was part of its programme to extend financial services to the poor who are often without access to a simple savings account.

Read more @ AFP.

We came across this interesting Q&A from Katrin Verclas about using mobile for advocacy groups, with notable examples from NARAL and Planned Parenthood:

Read the full Q&A here.

It seems that mobile donations are gaining more traction:

Taking a leadership role in the move to incorporate mobile technology into the world of philanthropy, the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation announced it will launch a new program designed to capture donations via text message. To power its mobile platform, the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation has partnered with Denver based Mobile Accord, Inc., the premier provider of mobile technology to the nonprofit sector.

"Virtually anyone with a mobile phone can make a donation to the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation by sending the text message "DMRF" to "90999" to make a donation of $5," says Janet Hieshetter, DMRF's Executive Director.

Read more here.

An ambitious text messaging campaign is expected to reach a million South Africans daily with information about HIV/AIDS counseling services and testing centers throughout the country.

The effort, called Project Masiluleke—which means "hope" and "warm counsel" in the South Africa's major language, Zulu—"is one of the largest ever uses of mobile phones for health info," according to Andrew Zolli, executive director of Pop!Tech, which helped coordinate and fund the project.

One message reads: "HIV + & being mistreated by your family of friends? For confidential counseling call AIDS Helpline on 0800012322."

The use of text messaging to spread this information isn't necessarily new—similar campaigns have launched in recent years. "But this campaign is the most ambitious we are aware of," said Robert Noble of AVERT, an U.K.-based AIDS charity that works in South Africa.

Read on for more information on this "mobile" cause.