I'm excited about some recent developments in nonprofit fundraising, notably a new service called mGive that allows nonprofits to raise money via mobile phone text message donations. mGive allows nonprofits to collect $5 or $10 donations via text message, which is then charged directly to the donor's wireless phone bill. From there the donations are passed from their carriers to the Mobile Giving Foundation, which then passes on 90 to 95% of the donation to your nonprofit. There are a few other costs, including a $250 monthly service fee, $0.25 for each completed transaction, and a one-time $100 application fee.
Stephen Joos, mGive's Director of Campaigns reports recently that the charity Keep a Child Alive has raised over $40,000 through mobile donations during Alicia Keys 'As I Am' tour. During her concerts, Alicia Keys would dim the house lights, play a clip from her 'Alicia in Africa' film, and ask concertgoers to pull out their cell phones and text 'ALIVE' to 90999. Over 8,000 donations resulted.
Another extremely cool tool offered by mGive as a part of this product is a widget that you can embed in a website, blog or online social network which will initiate the text message to your phone. You can see that in action at the Keep a Child Alive site.
