Survey Finds that Donors Who Pledge Money Via Mobile Text Messaging Are Willing to Donate Additional Dollars in the Future

Landmark Survey Commissioned by The mGive Foundation Finds that 86 Percent of Donors who Give to Nonprofits via Mobile Campaigns are Ready and Willing to Give Higher Amounts via Other Channels

Denver, Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- It's official: Mobile donations serve as a great complement to more traditional giving channels such as direct mail, email and online giving. That's according to recent findings from a survey commissioned by The mGive Foundation, the leading 501(c)(3) public charity supporting U.S. mobile donation campaigns. The survey revealed that 86 percent of respondents who give to an organization via SMS-based mobile campaigns would consider giving larger dollar amounts via alternative giving channels.

In addition, 80 percent of survey respondents who were regular online and/or direct mail donors indicated that donating money via text would not preclude them from giving a larger amount via alternative channels such web sites, direct mail or in response to email campaigns.

Respondents in general indicated an overwhelmingly positive experience with mobile giving, and most also said they were open to receiving regular, active text communications from causes they care about.

The survey, which was conducted by CCS, was the first-ever designed to specifically examine the behavior of mobile text donors.

"The survey results confirm what we've known all along here at The mGive Foundation – that mobile donations are an incredibly effective fundraising tool that can be used as part of a larger multi-channel donor acquisition strategy," said Jenifer Snyder, executive director of The mGive Foundation. "Mobile donation and advocacy campaigns are a great way for nonprofits to reach new audiences and raise money that they may not have received through other, more traditional channels. It's no surprise that the interest in mobile donations is exploding, and we predict that there will be a significant increase in the next two years in the number of nonprofits looking to harness the power of mobile technology."

In fact, the number of text-based donations processed by The mGive Foundation increased more than 30-fold in 2010. The mGive Foundation processed more than $41 million in donations made by more than 7.7 million unique donors. This compares with the $1.2 million in donations made by approximately 256,000 unique donors processed by the organization in 2009.

"Mobile giving can be an excellent vehicle for nonprofits to diversify their fundraising programs," shared CCS Operational Vice President, Peter Hoskow. "Donors today are more sophisticated than ever. Donors want options when it comes to charitable giving, and they want to see the organizations they support incorporating new technologies to reach them more effectively."

Some other notable findings from the study include:

• 62 percent of respondents have given to two or more organizations as the result of a text-based mobile giving campaign
• A striking 12 percent of respondents have donated to four or more organizations via text
• Text is the preferred method of charitable giving for 18 percent of respondents, compared to 60 percent for email and 22 percent for direct mail
• 74 percent of respondents intend to continue giving via text, citing convenience as the number one reason

The survey results also indicated that donors would like to donate a higher dollar amount via text – a full 48 percent of donors responded that they would like to have the option to give a $25 text gift. In November of last year, The mGive Foundation initiated a $25 mobile donation trial with most major domestic mobile carriers that raised the maximum mobile donation amount from $10 to $25, another first in the mobile donation industry.  The results of this trial will be released in March 2011.

About The mGive Foundation

The mGive Foundation (www.mgive.org) is a 501(c)(3) established to make it easy for nonprofits to quickly execute effective mobile giving campaigns – and for mobile operators to support them. The mGive Foundation has partnered with more than 60 of the nation's leading mobile carriers (covering 99 percent of U.S. mobile customers) to enable nonprofits of all sizes to increase overall donations and reach new audiences using affordable, reliable and regulation-compliant text-based mobile giving campaigns. The mGive Foundation has supported more than 7,000 mobile giving campaigns for more than 500 nonprofit clients and processes around 85 percent of all mobile donations made today.

About CCS

CCS provides fundraising consulting and management services to extraordinary non-profit organizations throughout the world. Established in 1947 and headquartered in New York City, the firm specializes in breakthrough efforts that transform the scale and impact of academic institutions, medical centers, arts and cultural groups, religious organizations, national and international charities, associations, environmental causes, and civic and human service organizations. CCS clients are among the most recognizable brands in philanthropy.

SOURCE The mGive Foundation