In a recent Cone marketing agency survey, 19 percent of Americans said that they would rather text a donation to a nonprofit than make a donation in any other way, and the method is particularly popular among youth. It’s a fundraising tool now on the radar of every major U.S. charity, according to Christian Zimmern, co-founder of the nonprofit Mobile Giving Foundation (MGF).

Zimmern notes that “we have 260 million cell phones in the United States,” while The New York Times reports that almost 90 percent of U.S. households now have a cell phone. He points out that this means that givers need not be a member of any online pay system, nor use a credit card, “You just need your phone.” MGF first qualifies charities, then facilitates a coordinated link with telecommunications carriers.

The latest pressing cause to benefit from text-message giving are rescue operations for 400 species of wildlife from the life-threatening effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Birds, fish, reptiles and marine mammals urgently need help. The National Wildlife Federation (nwf.org) is asking cell phone users to text "Wildlife" to 20222 to donate $10 to try to save the animals.

Source: The Christian Science Monitor.

Details at www.NWF.org/Oil-Spill/Ways-to-Help/Mobile-Giving.aspx.