Why mobile phone users texted $ millions in aid to the Haiti earthquake relief and how they got their friends to do the same

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Why mobile phone users texted $ millions in aid to the Haiti earthquake relief and how they got their friends to do the same

On January 12, 2010 a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the nation of Haiti near the capital of Port-au-Prince. Up to three million people were killed, injured or displaced.

In the months following the earthquake, Americans contributed more than $43 million in aid via cell phone text message donations. Our new report explores why these text donors contributed, and how they got their friends to join.

Some key findings:

64% of American adults now use text messaging, and 9% have texted a charitable donation from their mobile phone
The ability to send small donations using mobile phones facilitates “impulse giving” in response to moving images or events
74% of Haiti text donors in this survey were first time mobile givers, meaning that their contribution to earthquake relief was the first time they had used the text messaging function on their phone to make a charitable contribution
43% of the Haiti text donors we surveyed encouraged their friends or family members to make a similar contribution using their mobile phones