MIT adds the MIDAS touch to BBC charity

Rating: Brings in circa £1.75m for Children in Need

If you ever doubted that donating money via SMS/text on a large scale was logistically impossible, then Mobile Interactive Technology (MIT) believes it has disproved this. In less than one month, MIT’s MIDAS platform handled 376,568 mobile interactions. That’s around £1.75 million in donations.

Three companies within the Mobile Interactive Group - Mobile Interactive Technology (MIT), Jigsaw and Kilrush – were involved in the project for the BBC’s Children in Need appeal.

Kilrush actually designed, built and hosted the mobile internet site found here. Jigsaw built the standard HTML site.

These sites were especially needed because of the UK government’s Gift Aid scheme. While the mobile network operators and the Treasury refrained from charging for text donations, the Gift Aid scheme required participants to register.

So the mobile site was necessary to help donors register and add a further £1.40 to the original £5 they had donated by text.

For example, at the Children in Need Rocks gig at the Royal Albert Hall supporters were invited to text the keyword ‘DONATE’ to shortcode 70077 to donate the £5.

As MIT’s commercial director, Robert Weisz, stated, “It’s key for charities to diversify into multiple donations channels for wider reach and appeal.”

This is the first time the BBC’s Children in Need charity had used SMS to interact with the general public.

Tony is based in Surrey and is a veteran comms journalist. Tony also writes on the UK market…. contact him here tony@mobileinsight.co.uk