Haiti disaster proves how good a channel mobile is for charity and disaster relief

At a mobile money conference in Los Angeles last November, I had the chance to talk to Jim Manis, CEO of Mobile Giving. He spoke about how charities tend to view mobile as a once off “strategy” for donation, rather than as a channel through which long-term donors can be acquired (see the full interview here). But the success of mobile as a channel for sending to the victims of the Haitian earthquake could be the turning point that changes peoples minds. Mobile really can be used to help people all over the world, every single day.

The Red Cross

The Haiti disaster has been a milestone for mobile charity, because it is the first time that the Red Cross has used mobile as a way to gather relief donations for an international disaster. This certainly isn’t the first time that mobile phones have been used for charity, but it’s the most high profile instance. The Red Cross launched its mobile campaign on Wednesday on this week – and in under 48 hours had collected over $5 million. And the Red Cross isn’t the only charity putting effort into the mobile channel. Jim Manis and the Mobile Giving foundation have eight different organisations collecting funds for Haiti through mobile, including the International Medical Corp, International Rescue Committee and the Salvation Army. And there are even more.

Why mobile?

Why are people so eager to donate by mobile? Simply because it is incredibly fast and easy. There are thousands of people in the world who are happy to donate what they can spare to victims of disasters – but unfortunately there is often a long process to make the donation. Calling helplines can result in large mobile charges to the donor, and long waits to speak to a representative. The strength of the mobile channel lies in the “$10 text”. Donors can send a $10 dollar donation by simply sending a word (usually “HAITI”, in this case) to a shortcode. Their operator will then make a donation on their behalf, and the amount is put onto the donors bill at the end of the month. In this way, millions of dollars can be collected in small amounts from thousands of people who otherwise might not have had the time to make a donation.

What we think?

This is a difficult thing to write about. The Haitian disaster is a truly awful event, on a magnitude that most of us can’t even imagine. Referring to such a tragedy as a “great opportunity” is an extremely foolish thing to do. But it is a fact that this is the first huge disaster to occur during the current period of rapid expansion and adoption of mobile financial transactions. This is the time for mobile charitable foundations to prove just how valuable their channel is for allowing people to reach out and help those in need – and not just in times of great emergency like Haiti is suffering. Charities that collect on a daily basis can benefit from mobile as well. Simply saying “donating 10$ is as easy as sending one text to this number…” could attract many more people to use these foundations.

How can I help?

Just click the links to the websites of any of the organisations I mentioned above, and follow their instructions for how to help.