Mobile In Action
Meir Panim, an organization that runs a network of soup kitchens in Israel, recently ran a promotional campaign called SMS for Lunch.
It's a participatory campaign that allows individuals to experience the good-feeling reward of charitable giving as instant gratification.
"The idea was to set up a 'meeting' with one child, and provide an immediate feedback to the action (your donation). A unique platform, integrating web and mobile technologies, enabled such meeting: A boy is seen, facing an empty plate, looking like waiting for something to happen. The copy invites you to donate, through SMS. The moment the system receives your SMS-the banner changes immediately; the plate fills and the boy smiles. Each SMS covers the cost of one meal."
A Bulgarian monk, who used to be a financial stock broker on Wall Street, is planning on launching an SMS fund raising campaign to renovate a Monastery.
According to Sofia News Agency, "Father Nikanor from the village of Giginzi is collecting money through text messages to save the monastery of Saints Kozma and Damyan, one of the oldest monasteries in the Pernik region near Sofia, Standart Daily Newspaper reported."
Because millions are dying in Darfur, a Turkish association called Kimse Yok Mu is calling out for mobile users to reach out by sending a single SMS message and a small donation.
According to today's Zaman, "a YTL 5 donation (or $3.70-I initially got the conversion wrong, sorry bout that)-to the Kimse Yok Mu Darfur campaign can be made by sending an SMS reading "DARFUR" to the number 5777, through mobile operators Turkcell, Vodafone or Avea. For donations other than YTL 5, the association can be reached at (216) 521 80 80."
BCS reports that Amnesty International is to launch a system whereby donations can be made via mobile phones.
NEW ORLEANS SEEKS TEXT-MESSAGE DONATIONS
According to USA Today, New Orleans, still struggling from Hurricane Katrina, is soliciting text message donations to help it defray costs of the event.
"City officials are seeking to raise cash via text-messaging and online giving.
The Text to Give program is to retroactively pay for the costs; it began Feb. 8 and is set to run for a year. The initial goal is to raise $1 million."
If you want to help stormed out Florida and you are an American mobile user, you can donate $5 to the American Red Cross Relief Effort by text messaging "GIVE" to "2HELP" (24357).
The donations will appear on customers' monthly bills and be deducted from prepaid account balances.
The Human Zoo - an experiment which places humans in animal zoo enclosures - opened today with the first group released into their new surroundings at The Adelaide Zoo, News.com reports.
For the duration of the experiment, which is also a fundraiser, scientist Dr. Carla Litchfield will monitor and observe the volunteers, gaining information and looking at the animal behavior of humans.
...Throughout the week, visitors can vote by text messaging for their favorite human, with the proceeds going towards the construction of a new enclosure at the Monarto Zoological Park."