April 11th, 2007 by Doug Busk
How much is a stamp, again? Isn’t it going up shortly? A consumer group by the name of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights suggested in a NYTimes piece this morning that the the industry-wide “Text2Help” initiative, sponsored by CTIA’s non-profit arm - The Wireless Foundation, was somehow misleading participants in not making clear that they might suffer standard text-messaging fees in the process of sending a donation via the 24357 (”2HELP”) shortcode. (Each message confirmed by the user results in a $5 donation that the carrier immediately turns around to the Red Cross.) Mark Siegel, of at&t Mobility, makes a point that bears repeating, isn’t a stamp on a donation envelope pretty pricey, too? Plus, quoting him: “This gets the money there faster and is much cheaper.â€
It seems to me the Wireless Foundation has done an incredibly good deed in rounding up carrier agreement, no small task, to ensure that interested donors, wherever they are, whatever they are doing at the time, can give money to the Red Cross the very moment they learn of an event that could use their help. How many of us felt helpless during the aftermath of 9/11, the sub-Asian tsunami or Hurricane Katrina? How many of us would have gladly paid 15 cents to make a difference in a moment? How many of us had a stamp and an envelope handy vs. our cell phone at the ready?
Donation depends on education (”How do I help?”) and immediacy (”I want to help now.”). I think the Text2Help initiative and the carriers that support it delivers on both admirably.
