Mobile Insiders

Have you recently gotten a text message from your carrier asking you to donate to the Haiti relief fund? The news coming from the Haiti earthquake is tragic, and while most people are looking for ways to contribute, sometimes the best thing to do is to donate money and leave it to the professionals to stretch that dollar out. Since the devastation in Haiti, there has been an outpouring of contributions, and you can thank your carriers for a large part of that effort.

Denver-based mGive and Bellevue, Wash.-based Mobile Giving Foundation, have been tracking donations via text messages and the numbers are astounding. For the Red Cross alone, there has been over $22 million in donations. Together, they are helping more than a dozen organizations, including the Red Cross, The Salvation Army, UNICEF, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and World Vision, raise funds for Haiti.

While there may be a timing concern when it comes to donating via text message, this seems to have been fixed with the advancement of funds from the carriers. In a statement today, T-Mobile said: “Recognizing the severity of the situation in Haiti and the need to make funds donated via text message by our customers available as quickly as possible, T-Mobile is speeding up the process to pass along these donations. We plan to deliver funds generously donated by T-Mobile customers this week.” Verizon Wireless said it has already transmitted nearly $3 million to the American Red Cross, on behalf of their customers. Sprint has also sent over $3 million, advancing 80% of the funds immediately, and the remaining 20% submitting under Sprint's normal 30 to 90 day cycle. Over $10 million have been pledged by AT&T customers, although there is no mention in the release of any advancement of the funds. It's great to see the caring side of these carriers, and I applaud them for their effort in what may be the most successful contribution effort for any disaster, particularly to getting funds to where they need to in good time.