Comic Relief, the UK charity behind Red Nose Day, has looked to OpenMarket for a mobile system that will allow users to donate to its latest Sport Relief campaign by sending a text message to a five-digit code.
The Mobile Engagement Platform (MEP) will provide four charity donation text codes, allowing donors to choose from different amounts of donations, according to OpenMarket.
James Stokes, a spokesperson for OpenMarket, which is a subsidiary of management systems provider Amdocs, told CBR: "It’s a simple process – the donation is taken directly from a users’ phone bill or PAYG credit. They send the advertised keyword to the short code, and the donation amount is taken once they receive a confirmation message.
"The full amount of the donation is then passed on to the charity by all networks, making text donations not only easy, but also extremely cost-effective for fundraisers."
Jacqueline Hill, head of campaign management at Comic Relief, said she chose the solution for its "proven track record" in the charity sector.
"We were particularly impressed by OpenMarket’s in-depth knowledge of the mobile donations domain and the speed with which they delivered a solution that met all of the needs of our 2014 Sport Relief campaign," she said.
When asked if Comic Relief would see an increase in donations, Stokes said: "We know from previous SMS appeals that mobile is a quick and simple way to give to charity, so we expect to see more people than ever using their phones to donate to this year’s Sport Relief."
"The biggest part of Sport Relief is in March, when the majority of donations will be made by the public as they support fundraising events all over the country; that’s when we’ll really be able to see the growth in mobile donations over last year.
"So far, The Great Sport Relief Bake Off was a great success with a good level of mobile engagement and we hope to see the same with Davina Mccall’s attempt to get from Edinburgh to London in just 7 days which kicks off this weekend."
