BBC Children in Need has raised around £2 million via mobile through £5 donations since launching SMS donations on 26 October ‘09. Members of the public were able to donate via text, knowing that every penny would go directly to BBC Children in Need, thanks to mobile network operators waiving their usual fees and the Treasury levying no VAT charges. Gift Aid has also been available, equating to an additional £1.40 for every eligible £5 donation, which could potentially have raised an additional £500,000.
“This is the first time BBC Children in Need has used SMS to interact with our supporters,” says BBC Children in Need Director of Operations and Finance, Anna Bennett. “The donation mechanic has made it easy for our supporters to donate and has helped us to reach a wider audience.”Mobile Interactive Technology (MIT) powered all SMS donations via its MIDAS platform, with digital agency Jigsaw designing, building and hosting the BBC Children in Need Gift Aid website, and mobile Internet publishing business Kilrush designing, building and hosting the mobile Internet site, via which supporters could add Gift Aid to their donation.
In the four weeks running up to the main BBC Children in Need appeal, viewers of ‘The One Show’ were invited to text a keyword, based on the presenter’s name, to support the presenter they wanted to participate in the latest challenge. Each interaction donated £5, with donations capped at a maximum of seven per day.
The ‘Children in Need Rocks the Royal Albert Hall’ concert was broadcast on Thursday 19 November. Here, viewers were invited to text the keyword DONATE to Shortcode 70077 to donate £5.
Converge
Reema Dada
Farheen Aqueel
Mahjabeen Khan
Alina Tariq
Afreen
Umer Tanveer
mJawad
suboorah
Taha Hameedi
Fatima
1 Response to “SMS Donations raise around £2M for BBC Children in Need”