The annual National Radiothon on April 29 included a Text to Give component which was powered by ZipGive of Toronto that specializes in cause-related mobile marketing. Next to the Haiti earthquake relief efforts, the Children’s Miracle Network campaign was the most successful mobile giving campaign to date in Canada, raising $25,525 in a single day via SMS donations of $5 per person.

“The strategy was to extend fundraising to new untapped demographics that are mobile and responsive, as well as capitalize upon mobile’s immediacy and ‘in the moment’ actionability,” said Andrew D’Amico, account manager at ZipGive, Toronto.

ZipGive is the mobile giving division of ZipStripe, which specializes in mobile fundraising services for charities, nonprofits and political organizations.

ZipGive platforms include Text to Donate, Text to Pledge, Web to Mobile and Facebook to Mobile, which power applications and mobile Web commerce sites.

Text donations
Astral Media is the owner of radio stations on which the telethon was broadcasted.

The radiothon aired on 65 radio stations requesting that listeners text the keyword ASTRAL to the short code 45678.

“The sheer magnitude of the response for essentially a one-day call-to-action, with no general media support such as was the case for Haiti, suggests that mobile is becoming a very easy and responsive way to react to a fundraising call-to-action,” said Ursual Addesi, account manager at ZipGive, Toronto.

ZipGive and other charities that are registered can use mobile to reach out to a new base of donors and create a better interaction.

Donors traditionally rely on static media such as print. However, the new SMS donation platform allows for a greater possiblity of supplementing donor accessibility. 

“Donations have traditionally originated from calls-to-action on print media and from older demographics,” Mr. D’Amico said.

“The Mobile Giving Foundation and ZipGive are instrumental in opening up new and untraditional micro-donation fundraising channels that seek to appeal to younger demographics, and that also provide opportunities of ongoing conversations and giving for charitable and nonprofit entities such as the Children’s Miracle Network,” he said.

Mr. D’Amico said that mobile is the most personal of mediums and fundraising organizations can benefit from a direct connection to potential donors.

“Mobile is a response mechanism that actualizes a person’s desire to give to a worthwhile cause, immediately and in the moment when the request for assistance is made,” said Ms. Addesi. “This capability of instantaneous reaction is invaluable in supporting fundraising activities that compete with so much advertising clutter for a prospective donor’s attention.”