$450,000 from more than 90,000 mobile donors

Freaking Radass, huh? This has to be the largest Mobile Giving Push in history. Twelve-time Grammy-winning singer Alicia Keys’ appearance on FOX’s “American Idol” Wednesday night (May 13) raised an astonishing $450,000 from more than 90,000 mobile donors who texted their donations. Keep a Child Alive is the non-profit organization co-founded by Keys to provide health care and housing to children with HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.

In a first for “American Idol,” and a departure from traditional fundraising methods, Keys asked the show’s 30 million viewers to use their mobile phones to give $5 by sending the text message ALIVE to 90999. Seconds after texting in, they received a message back asking for confirmation. Mobile donors confirmed by replying “YES” via text message. The $5 donation will be added to their next mobile phone bill.

To date, the “Give $5 Text ALIVE” campaign has raised more than $500,000 for Keys’ cause. In addition to a co-founder, Keys serves as the group’s global ambassador.

One comment

  1. Mike Chapman
    May 16, 2009 at 8:21 am

    This is definitely a great way for cause oriented efforts to succeed; combining celebrity endorsement in an effective way with the new micro-donation and interactive tools is so efficient.

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