Charity Management
Free text donation service here at last
The first free text donation service has at last arrived, three years after the Text Donation Campaign was first launched
Back in May 2010, the Text Donation campaign Group, let by Joe Saxton of NfP Synergy reported that, on average, 91 per cent of a £5.00 text donation given through any major mobile network now reached the recipient charity. The group had worked with the mobile phone industry for the last two years to raise awareness of the fundraising potential of text donations and made the case for lower charges. According to Saxton, this was progress. He said: “The mobile phone companies and the industry body, the Mobile Data Association have listened and made significant changes. VAT on text donations has been waived, special charity short codes have been introduced and all of the mobile phone companies have lowered their charges.”
With 89 per cent of adults owning a mobile phone, equating to 48.9 million people sending on average 300 million text messages a day,[1] this was a fundraising channel with huge growth potential. The mobile operator charges were the main stumbling block.
The Charities Aid Foundation, one of the group’s supporters had published the following comparative out-payment rate by the mobile operators set out below.[2]
|
Donation
|
Amount received by charity in May 2010
|
||||||
|
|
O2
|
Orange
|
Three
|
T-Mobile
|
Virgin
|
Vodafone
|
Average
|
|
£1.00
|
£0.90
|
£0.90
|
£0.95
|
£0.80
|
£0.89
|
£0.90
|
£0.89
|
|
£1.50
|
£1.35
90% |
£1.35
90% |
£1.43
95% |
£1.20
80% |
£1.34
89% |
£1.35
90% |
£1.34
89% |
|
£3.00
|
£2.70
90% |
£2.70
90% |
£2.85
95% |
£2.70
90% |
£2.67
89% |
£2.70
90% |
£2.72
91% |
|
£5.00
|
£4.50
90% |
£4.50
90% |
£4.75
95% |
£4.50
90% |
£4.45
89% |
£4.50
90% |
£4.53
91% |
Note: These costs are based on aggregators who do not make a charge for each text donation and rates have been rounded to the nearest penny.
First free text donation service launched by Vodafone
On 9 May 2011, Vodafone launched JustTextGiving in partnership with online donation agency JustGiving. This incurs no set up or running costs for charities and no network charges for supporters and allows charities of all sizes to benefit from the speed and spontaneity of text donations, with every penny donated, plus Gift Aid, going straight to charity.
Already, 21 charities across the country were mong the first to sign up to JustTextGiving and secure their personalised six-digit text codes. These include Cancer Research UK, Acorns Children’s Hospice Trust, Aspire and the Anthony Nolan Trust.
Open to all
The sector has also so far struggled to motivate younger givers - less than half (44 per cent) of 18-24 year olds give to charity compared with 80 per cent of over 65 year olds.[3] Galvanising mobile fundraising is seen as critical to kick starting a new generation of giving. Think tank Respublica estimates that text donations could be worth £96 million annually by 2014.[4]However, substantial set up costs have previously meant only the very largest charities have been able to use text fundraising, with seven in ten (72 per cent) charities saying the cost of setting up the service was a key barrier.[5]
Vodafone Chief Executive Guy Laurence said: “We’re already supporting over 1,000 charities across the UK through our World of Difference programme. Now, with JustTextGiving, Britain’s 184,000 charities, big and small, can benefit from the power of text donations completely free.
“JustTextGiving by Vodafone is speedy, simple, and spontaneous. Around 50 million people carry a mobile so the potential for charities and individuals to raise additional money is very real and exciting. Whether you’re watching a friend run a 5k or you’re at your kid’s school concert, you will now be able to give on the spot. Fundraising will never be the same again.”
Getting started
All charities have to do is contact Vodafone and register. They then pick a unique code, consisting of four letters and two digits and the donors text the god and the gift amount to the number 70070. They will also be sent a Gift Aid Text allowing the charities to reclaim tax. Alternatively charities can contact Just Giving at www.justtextgiving.co.uk. Online packs offering free marketing materials and advice are available to charities registering for the codes as part of Vodafone’s £5m investment.
Director of supporter marketing Natasha Hill at Cancer Research UK (whose code is CRUK11) said: “We believe the use of mobile devices for charitable giving is an important future revenue stream which has the potential to tap into a new demographic and create a new age of giving. We are excited to see the impact this new service will have on growing the mobile donation market – not only in support of Cancer Research UK but also for all charities in the UK”.
[1] Communications Market Report’, OFCOM, August 2010, www.ofcom.org.uk
[3] ‘Consumer Insights - Charity Donor Behaviour’, Mail Media Centre, February 2010
[4] ‘Digital Giving’, Asheem Singh and Samuel Middleton, ResPublica, September 2010, p.10, http://www.respublica.org.uk/sites/default/files/Digital%20Giving.pdf
[5] ‘Sending out an SMS’, nfpSynergy, CAF and the IoF, 2009, p.22
Clarissa Dann
Clarissa Dann was the editor of Caritas as well as an HR and management online service,he People Bulletin until July 2011.
She is now the editor of the specialist trade finance magazine, Trade and Forfaiting Review which can be viewed at www.tfreview.com but does write on charity finance and investment from time to time.
Clarissa has a background in legal and professional publishing, as well as business journalism and holds an MBA from
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Yes - indeed at last... the fees involved have been a major blocker for lots of Donor Marketing departments I am sure.
The fees were quite high which was a turn-off - but now, it seems right that there's a free option...
It's always a tricky one - with online charity donations all the UK payment gateways will still take a percentage of any online donation too.
I wonder if the banks still take a cut once the text service has passed it on the bank account in the same way with an online donation form?
I work in a large humanitarian organisation who are just getting more to grips with digital and I'm not sure they've have heard about this yet so - thanks for the read, I will be sure to pass it on!