Comments on: Why Your Text Message Donation to Haiti Might Not Get There Until April

By: zbicyclist

zbicyclist — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:15:41 +0000

A disaster is a marvelous fund-raising opportunity. Can’t let that go to waste.

Fund raising operates on the margin. If the organization has to spend $2 to get $10, they are still $8 to the good. But it’s better if they can use all $10.

Send a check directly to the organization. No credit card fees, no text fees, no trusting AT&T and Verizon accountants. If you can’t do it until you get your next paycheck, that’s fine — as long as you do it.

By: S.P. Charles

S.P. Charles — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:29:25 +0000

I think the real issue here is that the phone companies should make it clear that the money won’t be going anywhere for a few months; then people can decide whether they’d like to donate the easiest way with the knowledge that their contribution will be delayed — which isn’t necessarily a terrible thing — or spend a minute or two more to donate in such a way that the money gets to where it should be a lot sooner. Informed choice.

By the way, I’m not sure the “Red Cross uses money on hand and replenishes its funds with the current donations” scenario completely applies in a megadisaster such as this one: I’m sure there’s a limit to how much money they have sitting around.

By: Fnord

Fnord — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:30:54 +0000

This article is terribly misleading. The Red Cross knew when they set up the program that they would not get the money from phone companies immediately. They still want you to use the service. Donating by text, even with a built-in delay, is far better than saying “I’ll donate when I get home” and then forgetting about it.

The phone companies’ delay never had any effect on the services going to Haiti. The Red Cross is paying for its relief efforts out of its existing International Disaster Response Fund; they assigned $10,000,000 to the Haiti response even before the 90999 thing was set up. (The texted donations have now hit that ten million and then some.) Even if it takes weeks for the telcos to physically transfer the dollars, there is at this time no danger of that fund running dry.

By: Mark in Boston

Mark in Boston — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:12:54 +0000

The money will still be needed a few months from now.

By: arvy

arvy — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:48:48 +0000

And to tie a couple of threads together, you can always donate at this site:

http://givingaid.richarddawkins.net/

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:05:33 +0000

I don’t think there’s any deception involved, but I think the idea behind “texting to donate” is because people want the money to get there immediately, instead of a few months delay.

By: Suzii

Suzii — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:41:19 +0000

Hey, Fr. Bruno, the texting fees, as well as the processing fees for the operation that manages the donations, were waived even earlier — as of 1/14, according to Consumer Reports: http://blogs.consumerreports.org/money/2010/01/update-donating-haiti-relief-red-cross-text-donations-better-business-bureau-wise-giving-alliance.html

(btw, my source for the previous post was the New York Times: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/verizon-speeds-up-text-message-donations-to-haiti/)

By: Father Bruno Di Frocco

Father Bruno Di Frocco — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:25:22 +0000

I’ll feel better when the cell company waives its texting fees for these donations. But overall, the donate-by-cell isn’t a bad idea. It makes it more convenient (and more immediate) for donors to kick in a few bucks. The immediacy thing is important — folks away from their computers might well forget to make that donation when they get home. By the way, I tried to make a donation at the Red Cross website (and later at the Salvation Army site) on the night of the quake and couldn’t get in. After a long wait, I quit and went to Catholic Relief Services. That’s who got my donation.

By: Suzii

Suzii — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:23:24 +0000

The WSJ is behind the curve. That story was from 1/16; as of 1/15, the phone companies had started finding solutions (100% immediate from Verizon, 80% immediate from Sprint …).

By: Chuck

Chuck — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 01:55:39 +0000

I don’t think the phone company is doing anything wrong. I just think it’s not the best way to donate money. How can these articles be discouraging? Is it that much easier to send a text message than to do it on their site? Don’t most people spend plenty of time on their computers already? If you want to help, you find a way. Just because text message donations aren’t the best route doesn’t mean that there aren’t ANY routes.