Eleven-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys launched one of the first text message donation campaigns in the U.S. to benefit Keep A Child Alive. During her As I Am concert tour, Keys took a few moments out of each show to show a clip from her film Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland and to invite fans to donate $5 using their mobile phones. By text messaging the word ‘ALIVE’ to shortcode 90999, thousands of fans donated on the spot to Keep A Child Alive, helping support the organization’s crucial efforts in communities affected by AIDS in Africa.
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Eleven-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys launched one of the first text message donation campaigns in the U.S. to benefit Keep A Child Alive. During her As I Am concert tour, Keys took a few moments out of each show to show a clip from her film Alicia in Africa: Journey to the Motherland and to invite fans to donate $5 using their mobile phones. By text messaging the word ‘ALIVE’ to shortcode 90999, thousands of fans donated on the spot to Keep A Child Alive, helping support the organization’s crucial efforts in communities affected by AIDS in Africa.
The mobile giving campaign proved to be a viable new fundraising channel for Keep A Child Alive with close to 8,000 fans donating over $40,000 to combat the African AIDS Pandemic.
“Texting can provide a way to give at that instant when we are moved, rather than later when life takes over,” said Alicia Keys.
“For many people, this was their first encounter with mobile giving and it came through Keep A Child Alive, which has always been a cutting-edge, progressive organization,” explained Leigh Blake, Co-Founder and President of Keep A Child Alive. “I’m convinced that the ease of mobile giving helped us receive many contributions we might not have gotten otherwise.”
“The launch of text message donations marks a true milestone in the world of philanthropy,” said James Eberhard, Chairman and CEO of Mobile Accord. “Mobile giving creates a system where instead of raising millions of dollars from 5 or 10 people, nonprofits now have the ability to instantly raise individual donations of $5 or $10 from millions of people. This was demonstrated during the Alicia Keys concert series with our mGive platform, as we saw between 6-12% of the audience use their phone and participate.”
The new mobile giving channel is enabled by the Mobile Giving Foundation (MGF), a new 501 C 3 tax exempt nonprofit that manages mobile giving standards and donor interaction, qualifies charities, and distributes donated funds. The Mobile Giving Foundation is pioneering mobile giving with the support of major wireless carriers, charities, sponsors and service providers.
“This is a true turning point in the history of the wireless industry,” said Jim Manis, founder and CEO of the MGF. “Not only are we at the forefront of wireless giving but we are fortunate enough to be partnered with Keep A Child Alive, an organization as skilled at promoting giving as it is at combating AIDS. This is a remarkable partnership that underscores the personal nature and value of mobile technology in empowering consumers to make a difference in the world.”
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July 5th, 2008 •
Keep A Child Alive and Alicia Keys Raise $40,000 Through Mobile Donations During U.S. Concert Tour 
