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Submitted by Mike Grenville on Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:07 |
Donations around the world by SMS are raising millions of pounds for the earthquake in Haiti.
Over the weekend mobile donations in the USA increased from $10 million reported on Friday to more than $16 million - already risen to $20 on Monday.
In the UK there is an umbrella organisation to respond to a disaster when it on such a scale and of such urgency as to call for swift International humanitarian assistance. Th echarities DEC raises funds on behalf of are: Action Aid, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Help the Aged, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund, World Vision. Most DEC members had been working in Haiti prior to the earthquake and have the local links and knowledge required to deliver prompt and effective assistance despite the devastation caused by the quake.
As well as donations through it's website www.dec.org.uk/donate_now, donations can be made by SMS supported by its partner MiG.
Txt GIVE to 70077 to donate £5 for DEC Haiti appeal. £5 goes to DEC. You pay £5+std. network SMS rate.
Donations by txt can now also claim Gift Aid which adds an extra £1.41 to every £5 donated.
A selection of banners to use on your site are here:
Banner Ads to Support Haiti
Around the world there are a growing number of mobile giving campaigns:
In the USA over $16 million dollars has been raised via mobile so far! BY Thursday the American Red Cross raised $5 million dollars by SMS.
In the USA, The Mobile Giving Foundation is co-ordinating a number of organisations that are offering shortcodes to make donations.
A list of relief campaigns launch is updated here: www.mobilecommons.com
“Response from the public for mobile-giving campaigns related to Haiti Earthquake Relief has been tremendous, and awareness of the various campaigns continues to grow via social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter,” said Federico Pisani Massamormile, Mobile Marketing Association interim CEO.
Other Support From Mobile
T-Mobile USA is waiving fees on international calls to and from Haiti through to 31st January.
Manufacturer of solar powered mobile phones Intivation has, in cooperation with one of its shareholders DOEN Participations and client Digicel, donated one thousand solar powered mobile phones to the Dutch Cooperating Aid Organisations and Haiti's largest micro-finance institution in Port au Prince.
DOEN foundation has been a longstanding investor in Haiti, among its participations is Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze (SFF), the country's largest micro finance institution. This organisation helps mostly women in Haiti with small loans so they can start businesses, and it has 37 branches that can be called on for the distribution of the solar phones.
Digicel Haiti has announced that its GSM network in Haiti is back up and running in Port-au-Prince following last weeks earthquake. Digicel added that all three switch sites which serve the country are operational. One is damaged but an interim solution has been put in place until new equipment arrives. Also, 70% of the network's cell sites are on air, with the remaining being worked on. A report by Cellular News says that the company has given all of its two million plus customers in Haiti US$5 of free call credit.
Shortcode for Reporting in Haiti
Subscribers on the DigiCel network in Haiti can now report incidents by sending text messages free of charge to 4636. The service allows survivors of Haiti's earthquake to receive critical information by text message directly to their phones, free of charge.
The Ushahidi interactive mapping system is currently tracking information in the several categories and subcategories including: emergencies, threats, responder activities, news about individuals, and the location of resources. The information is then added to maps http://haiti.ushahidi.com/
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