Twitter and Facebook Text Donations Raise $98,000 for Berry Family Children

Twitter and Facebook text donations help the world “Show Your Hearts” for the Berry Family Children after horrific car accident.

Featured Client: Jewish Federation of Greater Houston
Featured Products: Text-to-Give Mobile Giving, Web Widget
Endorsement: Brittany Spears, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Ryan Seacrest
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BERRY FAMILY TRAGEDY On July 3rd, 2011 while returning from an annual family road trip in Colorado back to their home in Houston, Texas the Berry Family found themselves to be victims of a tragic fatal car accident. The Berry’s minivan carrying parents Joshua and Robin Berry and their children Peter (age 9), Aaron (age 8), and Willa (age 6), was hit head on. Both parents Joshua and Robin were killed leaving their three children behind. While all three children survived the crash, both boys sustained serious spinal cord injuries and were paralyzed below the waist.

SHOW YOUR HEARTS This tragedy ignited a worldwide effort to help support the children. Show Your Hearts was created to connect millions of supporters.

FUNDRAISING PROBLEM The Berry Family needed a mechanism to quickly receive funds.  To further this problem, they had 7 days to prepare for one day of giving. Because of the lack of a donor base for this cause, those closest to the family were privileged to leverage family connections with celebrities. Since social media is the preferred method of communication for celebs, they were forced to create a completely viral campaign optimized for Twitter and Facebook. This brought them to an even larger problem. Though social media spreads ideas fast – it has a lackluster track record when it comes to giving. The family needed a giving method that was as immediate and easy as social media. Their audience was also likely to be younger, an inherent roadblock to typical donation methods.

TEXT TO GIVE SOLUTION Mobile donations are the only way donors can complete a gift in less than 15 seconds. This was just the kind of time frame the young audience would need to be willing to give. MobileCause responded immediately by providing the technology and support needed to create a successful text to give campaign. MobileCause was introduced to the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, a local nonproft whose hearts immediately went out to the Berry family. Because of unique carrier relationships MobileCause was able to request an expedited mobile campaign approval and launch. The HCJF Berry Family Fund for Orphans was able to quickly accept $10 text to give donations.

MOBILE GIVING TECHNOLOGY & SUPPORT Once the keyword BERRY was provisioned the family was given access to MobileCause’s robust real-time reporting system that gauges fundraising efforts. They were also given a web widget (a small online form that can be embedded on any web page) enabling users to make a text message donations online. Additionally, we created a QR code linking supporters to live fundraising results.

The MobileCause team spent dedicated time with the campaigns producers advising them on the in’s and out’s of using text to give with social media as well as helping them to leverage additional technology like bit.ly analytic. Because the bulk of the messaging was going to be done by celebrities, the potential for follower/fan participation rates was very high. MobileCause helped to create engaging content for social media feeds for supporting celebrities. Dedicated strategic support over the course of the campaign was also necessary to tweak the campaign in real time. The support delivered was designed to optimize performance and enhance creativity and efficiency.

FACEBOOK AND TWITTER CELEBRITIES PROMOTE SHOW YOUR HEARTS On July 27th many celebrities began tweeting, facebooking and speaking about the Berry family, requesting that their facebook followers change their profile pictures to the ShowYourHearts logo. Followers were empowered to text BERRY to 85944 to make a $10 gift. Within minutes the text to give campaign was raising an average of $7500 per hour. This single day social fundraising campaign resulted in over $98,000+ in $10 text donations.

MOBILE DONATION HIGHLIGHTS

Millions of people were reached with the Berry Family story and given the opportunity to come to the rescue in a single day.

9800+ new supporters were empowered and completed text to give donations.

$98,000+ and counting has been raised through text donations.

Learn more about MobileCause fundraising and engagement tools for nonprofits.

Mobile giving helps—Text JOPLIN to give for Joplin tornado relief

Text JOPLIN to give a mobile donation.

One of the most powerful functions of Mobile Giving is the overwhelming immediacy. In the wake of the Joplin tornado disaster, MobileCause & The Salvation Army were able to launch the keyword JOPLIN to help disaster victims throughout Joplin & Jasper County.

Many times when a disaster occurs a feeling of helplessness arises. Victims and members of the surrounding communities can feel powerless in it’s wake. Any action a victim can take during this time can provide an invaluable sense of empowerment in the face of devastation.

Mobile giving offers people a chance to provide immediate hope in desperate situations. Because of sophisticated technology, a high level of media attention and the endless compassion of the American people, hundreds of thousands of dollars can be raised quickly. At MobileCause, we are proud to provide service to some of our nation’s leading disaster relief providers.

That is why it is imperative to us to be the nation’s leader in efficiency and impact in the Mobile Fundraising sector. Just a year ago Nonprofits could wait months for keywords to go live, now keywords are submitted and launched in days, even faster during times of natural disaster*. Payment timelines have also been cut down dramatically, enabling communities to get on their feet faster.

This level of efficiency has been hard earned by many in the Mobile Giving sector. Specifically at MobileCause, we work tirelessly to ensure that Nonprofits are able to move quickly to provide help to those in need.

Learn more about MobileCause fundraising and engagement tools for nonprofits.

Text Donations Spur Support for Earthquake and Tsunami Victims in Japan

ADRA, Salvation Army, and International Medical Corps receive text donations for Japan earthquake relief

By C. Douglas Plank, MobileCause Chairman/CEO

Tomorrow will be exactly 14 months to the day that the world was gripped by the devastation of the Haiti Earthquake. During that crisis, more than 5 million people responded with their heart via their cell phones to make a mobile donation. Unfortunately we have the same opportunity today as the world is once again glued to TV, Internet, Radio, blogs, and twitter to get the latest on this terrible tragedy.

Although Japan is a modern industrialized country…one only has to look at the images on TV to see that such natural disasters as huge earthquakes are an equal opportunity destroyer of life and property.  Needless to say many have contacted our offices asking how they can help and as the leading provider of mobile giving in the nonprofit space, MobileCause is assisting our clients, Salvation Army, International Medical Corps, ADRA and others by quickly providing an easy to use Text donation mechanism for concerned citizens in the United States to provide much needed financial support for the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.

Just as during the Haiti disaster, MobileCause is committed to working with carriers, nonprofits and government agencies to ensure a rapid response to the desperate need for funding to help the Japan Earthquake Victims.  Please consider making a $10 mobile gift by texting the following keywords to support one of these highly regarded and trusted organizations…and please encourage your friends to do the same.

Salvation Army: Text JAPAN to 80888 for a $10 donation, please reply with YES to confirm your donation.

A onetime donation of $10 will be billed to your mobile phone bill. Messaging and data rates may apply. Donations are collected for charity by MobileCause.com. Reply STOP to 80888 to stop. Reply HELP to 80888 for help.

International Medical Corps: Text MED to 80888 for a $10 Donation, please reply with YES to confirm your donation.

A onetime donation of $10 will be billed to your mobile phone bill. Messaging and data rates may apply. Donations are collected for charity by MobileCause.com. Reply STOP to 80888 to stop. Reply HELP to 80888 for help.

ADRA Relief: Text SUPPORT to 85944 for a $10 Donation, please reply with YES to confirm your donation.

A onetime donation of $10 will be billed to your mobile phone bill. Messaging and data rates may apply. Donations are collected for charity by MobileCause.com. Reply STOP to 85944 to stop. Reply HELP to 85944 for help.

Learn more about MobileCause fundraising and engagement tools for nonprofits.

Every Nonprofit Should Have Mobile Tools