Relief for Haiti Via Text Message

The earthquake in Haiti has made Americans familiar with a country that is so close geographically, yet so far, from the American way of life.

Text messages have raised over $10 million for Haiti.

Tonight, during the premiere of 24 season eight on Fox, a text message took a prominent spot in the show when First Lady Michelle Obama announced the Red Cross Haiti relief premium SMS program.  Viewers were asked to Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross for relief for earthquake-stricken Haiti.

As of Friday, this text message donation program has caught the fancy of the American public looking for a quick and easy way to donate money to the cause in Haiti.  Over $10 million has been donated to the Red Cross program for Haiti.

Normally, premium SMS takes 90 days for the premium SMS service bureau to obtain the funds.  Given the dire situation in Haiti, however, this is not ideal.  Verizon is making the money available immediately to the Red Cross, essentially pre-paying before the funds have been billed and received by the carrier.  Sprint is giving 80% of the money it has raised thus far, perhaps waiting for potential chargebacks that may be associated with this program.  AT&T, which has raised the most money thus far, is also considering ways that it can make the funds available sooner.

List of Haiti Text Message Donation Programs

Text HAITI to 90999 (American Red Cross)

Text HAITI to 25383 (International Rescue Committee)

Text HAITI to 45678 (Salvation Army Canada)

Text RELIEF to 30644  (Catholic Relief Services)

Text HAITI to 864833  (United Way)

Text CERF to 90999 (United Nations Foundation)

Text DISASTER to 90999 (Compassion International)

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 17th, 2010 at 10:59 pm and is filed under Premium SMS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.