Comment on Vodafone’s announcement of better text donation
rates for all charities
26 February 2010
Vodafone have today announced that all charities will now
receive 90% of a donation of £1, or more given by a Vodafone
customer.
Joe Saxton, former Chair of the Institute of Fundraising who
started the campaign for better rates on text donations said; ”This
is really fantastic news for charities. In the last 18 months we
have seen VAT dropped, the introduction of short-codes for
charities and now rates are coming down.
“In early April we will publish the rates paid out by all the
major mobile phone operators on charity donations given by
text.”
Commenting on the news John Low, Chief Executive of the
Charities Aid Foundation said; “Vodafone are the UK’s second
biggest mobile phone operator so this is a very significant
announcement. They have always been very supportive of charities
and are now showing this by helping in one of the best ways any
mobile phone company can by reducing their costs.
“This is a huge step forward in the campaign to make text
donations a good way to give to charity and means that all
charities benefit, not just one off major appeals such as Comic
Relief and BBC Children in Need when all mobile phone companies
have generously waived their fees.
“Last November O2, the UK’s biggest mobile phone operator became
the first to reduce their rates and pass on 90% of a donation. I
hope other mobile operators will follow because giving by text is a
great way to fundraise since it is easy and spontaneous for
donors.”
Last November the Charities Aid Foundation and the Institute of
Fundraising wrote to the Chief Executives of all the major mobile
phone companies asking them to reduce charges to a flat-rate of 10p
regardless of the size of the donation. Research by nfpSynergy
shows that before charges started to come down 58% of people were
put off donating by text due to the high charges. The same research
shows 10p is the average most donors think they should be charged
on a text donation.
Roger Craven, Director of Vir2 Ltd the UK’s leading specialist
provider of mobile fundraising solutions, who has supported the
campaign from the beginning said; "Text donation is a competitive
option for small value payments on more and more networks. Text is
also more spontaneous, it appeals to a younger audience and unlike
cheques, there are no plans to phase it out by 2018."
Media Contact:
Mandy Pursey
Head of PR
T: 03000 123 212
Mobile T: 07740 449 491
E: mpursey@cafonline.org
Notes to editors:
1. The Charities Aid Foundation is a charity set up to help
other charities by working with donors, companies and charities to
encourage and facilitate a culture of giving. They do this by
offering products and services that make giving easier, tax
efficient and help charities to make the most of donations through
their banking and fundraising support services.