It’s for You!

The vast majority of the 250 million U.S. mobile-phone users now can send text messages to make $5 or $10 donations to participating charities — for example, text “ALIVE” to 90999 to give $5 to Keep a Child Alive, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based organization working to combat AIDS in developing nations. A donor is requested to confirm her donation by replying to the text message she receives back from the charity with YES. Upon confirmation, the charge is added to the donor’s mobile-phone bill. The charge appears as a tax-deductible donation to the charity of choice on the donor’s bill, which can be used as a receipt. The donation is collected by the wireless carrier when the donor pays her next mobile-phone bill.