The federal government's efforts to use social media to improve communication have officially gone global. At a press conference today to announce $110 million in humanitarian aid for displaced residents of Pakistan's Swat Valley, State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton discussed a plan to use cell phone text messages to inform local communities about the assistance efforts:
We have been hard at work in this area for a number of weeks, looking for ways that we can get communications directly to people on the ground. And we know that a lot of the Pakistanis who are being displaced by the conflict have cell phones. So we're going to try to reach directly to them, not only to give them information that will be of assistance to them, but also to provide a way of connecting them up with other people, with the military, with the governing authorities.
Additionally, Americans interested in donating to the relief efforts can text the word "swat" to the number 20222 to make a $5 contribution to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Clinton said the money will be used to provide tents, clothing, food and medicine to displaced Pakistanis and she is hoping for a "big response" to the text messaging campaign. She added that the Obama administration has reached out to Pakistani Americans to solicit contributions from that community towards the relief efforts.
From my own travels in South Asia I have been consistently impressed by the level of market penetration cell phones have achieved in the region over a relatively short period of time. It is now much easier to get a cell phone than a land line in that part of the world, making the use of text messaging for public outreach a logical choice.
I'm not sure I can say the same about the idea of collecting donations via text. The proposal as outlined inspires a number of questions, including how will the money be collected and for what exactly will it be used. Would it be added to a user's wireless bill or deducted from a bank account? What would the State Department do with the names of people who donate? Would every additional text message result in an additional donation? I can easily foresee a scenario where people mistakenly think that texting "swat" repeatedly would result in additional money being donated, without realizing they are on the hook for the funds.
It's also interesting to ask whether the government should really be asking the public to donate their own money to an international cause that is already receiving millions in taxpayer funds without explaining why the amount of federal aid is insufficient. Considering how free the government has been with its pocketbook lately, it's hard to believe that $5 donations from taxpayers are really that necessary.
Hat tip: TechDailyDose
COMMENTS
Gautham, good questions.
Let me answer as the Founder of the Mobile Giving Foundation, which is a 501 C3 nonprofit that enables the mobile channel for charitable giving. All certified mobile giving campaigns, like this effort, comply with our standards designed to protect the consumer and establish the mobile channel as the most effective available for giving and donor interaction. It is all about providing the donor a choice of how to give if they wish to give.
When I first launched mobile giving in response to the Asian Tsnumai and Hurricane Katrina people who wanted to help were looking for ways to help. My background is in the wireless industry so it only seemed fitting to help make available the technology that I know best as a response to a desire to help and an existing need. That is the origins of the MGF. With the help of a lot of people we just finished our first year of operations.
Let me address questions raised:
Mobile giving uses a text messaging methodology -- one of the most ubiquitous services across the 250+ million users in the US. A donor sends a keyword to a short code -- in this case SWAT to 20222 -- to trigger the donation after replying yes to a confirming message. The gift is charged on their wireless operator's bill as a non taxable donation. The wireless operator collects the donation as part of their normal billing cycle and remits 100% of the donation to the Mobile Giving Foundation. We collect the donations from all the wireless operators, reconcile with our reporting and remit to the recipient foundation -- which in this case will be the USA arm of the UNHCR. They will use those funds to provide relief assistance to the refugees -- food, water, shelter, etc.
We are descriptive to the donor in the message flow of what they should expect, ie, billed to their carrier bill, we will provide you transparency on how your money is actually used, if you wanted to give more you can by texting back up to 5 times at $5 each. We also provide a mechanism for the donor to stop and get help during the donation process by replying HELP.
At the end of the day, this is a trusted and convenient way for people to make donations to their favorite causes.
Jim Manis 05/20/09 03:58 pm ET
This the time for the world to stand up and support Pakistani Armed Forces in the defeat of the Talibans in
Swat and other areas of Pakistan. The best way to exhibit the support of Pakistani Armed Forces is to contribute towards the welfare of the displaced persons (over two millions). Once the Talibans are defeated in Pakistani controlled areas then the half of the battle shall be won. Americans fathered the Talibans and now they must extinguish them. Good Luck!
Zia Uddin, Ph.D. 05/20/09 01:13 pm ET