Charitable giving via mobile payments has been embraced by some very high-profile charities, such as the American Red Cross. Sally Chambers, a reporter for The Guardian, says it’s a timely idea, and her article revealed mobile-giving platforms are increasing exponentially.
The sheer number of folks using mobile devices can no longer be ignored by charitable organizations. In her article, Chambers reveals a third of site traffic now comes from mobile devices. The Mobile Giving Foundation helps nonprofit organizations develop mobile solutions for fundraising, and they probably have clients waiting in line!
A recent study produced by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Harvard’s Berkman Center for the Internet & Society reported contributions were often spur-of-the-moment decisions that spread virally through online social networks. In December, Mashable put together a list of five apps for donating to charities — another indicator of a growing trend toward a mobile-payment fundraising model.
Here’s one of the more fascinating elements to this story: It would appear that Millennials are willing to freely give with no expectation of receiving a personal thank-you. Giving to charity via text messaging occurs without the social glad-handing and in-person socializing that has marked charitable fundraising for many decades. That is a sea change from the traditional way it has been done in the U.S.
We have been afforded a glimpse of how mobile technology may change the face of fundraising in the not-too-distant future, as mobile technology will likely bring an entirely different tenor to the way charities raise money. If text-enabled giving increases charitable capacity in the U.S., that would be a great blessing, as many charitable initiatives suffer from a lack of funding.