Both Vodafone and 02 have confirmed that UK-based registered charities will receive the full amount donated by the network’s customers to UK based charities.I welcome this decision because the popularity of text donations is now recognised as a vital new tool in the fundraising activities of charities with analysts predicting that text message donations could be worth £100million a year by 2015.
The Institute of Fundraising launched a campaign in 2006 to encourage operators to slash their fees (which then amounted to 55p per £1.50 donation), only to abandon the effort in the face of stiff opposition from the operators. The campaign was revived in 2008 in a bid to get movement on the issue.
This will make a big difference to the fundraising potential for charities and in the current economic climate is to be particularly welcomed.
This initiative by two of the UK’s leading mobile operators will assist charities many of whom depend on small donations from the public for their existence. I hope that other mobile providers will now follow this lead as the impact on the charity sector could be significant.
