Behind the Scenes at mGive- Processing Over $37 Million in Donations
Stephen Joos, February 3rd, 2010 mGive’s platform processes more than $37 million for Haiti in three weeks
In the three weeks since the earthquake in Haiti, people all over the world have stepped up to help those in need in Haiti. From children donating their allowance to the Red Cross to celebrities answering the phones during MTV’s Hope for Haiti†telethon and the millions of people who have texted donations for the first time ever- everyone has come together to help in whatever way they can.
Given the flurry of activity at mGive’s office in Denver, the moments we pause to reflect on what’s been accomplished are far and few between. We’ve been humbled by the response, and grateful for our own opportunity to make a difference. mGive’s platform alone has processed more than $37 million in text message donations for Haiti. During MTV’s Hope for Haiti telethon we processed tens of thousands of donations per minute. We will be sharing exact text donation numbers and breakdowns from the MTV telethon soon.
From the moment mGive’s founder received a call from the State Department requesting help after the earthquake in Haiti, mGive’s team has been working night and day on the donation effort for Haiti; making sure that donations were processed seamlessly, working with the carriers to expedite payments to the Red Cross, purchasing new servers and ramping up to handle the huge donation volumes during MTV’s telethon. Most importantly, we’ve made sure that every dollar raised for through mGive’s text donation platform goes directly to the Red Cross and the other charities for relief in Haiti.
It’s well worth taking a moment to thank the carriers for their help and willingness to waive fees so that every dollar gets to the charities, to thank the charities who are working tirelessly to get fresh water, shelter, food and medical care to those on the ground in Haiti, to thank all those who have generously contributed what they could, and finally to thank our team for their dedication and providing a positive experience for the millions of first-time mobile donors.
mGive was founded with the belief that the mobile phone could be a powerful force for social good. To all those who have donated, thank you for showing the world what’s possible.
Categories: mGive Blog case study, denver, haiti, hope for haiti, mgive, mGiving, mobile accord, mobile donations, mobile giving, MTV, red cross, sms donations, state department, telethon, text donation, Text Message Donation
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Kate said on February 17, 2010, 4:17 pm:
Ok, how cool is this?! My school has a afterschool program where we talk about god and finding ways to help other people. One day we had an idea for helping haiti. We made donation jars and put them in the office and lunchroom.So far within our first couple days, we made like $30. (Not much, but hay, every penny counts!)We called the project “Operation Haiti”.I know im just a 13 year old girl, but 1 person CAN make a HUGE differance.I did.