Verizon Foundation Among Official Sponsors of 2nd Annual Mobile Giving Forum on Oct. 27 in New York City

SEATTLE, Oct. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mobile Giving Foundation (MGF), the pioneer of mobile giving dedicated to helping charitable organizations raise funds through the mobile channel, today announced the Verizon Foundation as an official sponsor of the 2nd Annual Mobile Giving Forum, a day-long event to promote the advancement of mobile fundraising and donor engagement. The Forum will be held on Oct. 27 in New York at the French Institute Alliance Francaise.

"A central part of our mission is to utilize our technology to solve critical social issues, and mobile giving is a great example of using our network to make it easy for individuals to make a donation to help advance causes they are passionate about," said Rose Stuckey Kirk, president of the Verizon Foundation. "We are very proud to sponsor the Forum and help educate the nonprofit community about how technology can help raise funds."

"It is due to the generosity of North American carriers like Verizon that mobile giving exists and thrives, as they commit the people and technology resources to perform the administrative tasks associated with a 100-percent passthrough of donor funds to recipient charities," said Jim Manis, chairman and CEO, Mobile Giving Foundation. "The Verizon Foundation's support of the Forum highlights Verizon's corporate responsibility and its drive to help the nation's nonprofit community by activating donors through the mobile channel."

According to Manis, the Verizon Foundation's sponsorship will help subsidize the attendance of nonprofit participants by allowing the $195 early-bird registration fee to be waived for the first 100 nonprofit professionals who provide a verifiable 501(c)3 Federal Non-Profit Tax ID Number during the online registration process (or visit http://www.mobilegivingforum.com/index-2.html) (limit two attendees per organization).

Other sponsors for the event include T-Mobile USA, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Cellfish Media, Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), Microsoft Tag, Mobile Commons, Wiley Rein LLP and OpenMarket.

For more information on the Forum, its program or sponsorship opportunities for the event, visit www.mobilegivingforum.com or follow @mobilegf2011 on Twitter.

About The Verizon Foundation

The Verizon Foundation uses its technology, financial resources and partnerships to address critical social issues, with a focus on education and domestic violence prevention. In 2010, the foundation awarded nearly $67 million to non-profit agencies in the U.S. and abroad. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation's largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered nearly 6 million hours of community service since 2000. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizonfoundation.org.

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with more than 106 million total connections nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of nearly 196,000 and last year generated consolidated revenues of $106.6 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

About The Mobile Giving Foundation

The Mobile Giving Foundation (MGF) was founded in 2007 to create a "mobile giving channel" that empowers non-profit organizations and donors. Working with North America's top mobile carriers, the MGF enables the mobile channel for charitable giving by providing the organizational layer, operational guidelines and technical infrastructure for nonprofit organizations and donors to use the incredible power and convenience of mobile technology. The "Mobile Giving Channel" gives wireless users a simple and immediate way to receive and respond to appeals from worthy causes with the donation charged back to the carrier bill and 100% of the donation going to the designated charity. For further information, refer to the MGF Web site at www.mobilegiving.org.

SOURCE Mobile Giving Foundation