Vir2, which specialises in providing SMS and other mobile technology services for charities, has helped the Charities Aid Foundation launch a text donation service.
The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) – itself a registered charity – works to help other charities. This new SMS service will be available to charities for emergencies and regular campaigns, enabling them to raise funds and communicate with donors. There’ll be shortcodes for £3 and £5 donations. CAF will help set up campaign keywords, collect payments and claim Gift Aid for their charity partners. Charities will be charged a monthly fee for each keyword and a 2.5% handling charge for donations.
John Low, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said “Donating by text is easy, quick and simple for both donors and charities. We have seen substantial growth in donating by text with Comic Relief raising £7.8milllion this way in 2009. Since VAT-free charity short-codes were introduced and mobile phone networks significantly improved their payout rates, it has become much cheaper and more effective for all charities to benefit from text donations.”