Comic Relief, the UK charity that uses entertainment to raise money to help poor and disadvantaged people at home and overseas, has chosen leading mobile engagement company and AIME Sponsor Member OpenMarket to drive SMS mobile donations for its 2014 Sport Relief fundraising campaign.
“We chose OpenMarket for its proven track record in the charity sector, delivering a reliable mobile platform that can scale to support multiple concurrent fundraising projects, all running nationwide,” said Jacqueline Hill, Head of Campaign Management at Comic Relief. “We were particularly impressed by OpenMarket’s in-depth knowledge of the mobile donations domain and the speed with which they delivered a solution that met all of the needs of our 2014 Sport Relief campaign.”
The OpenMarket platform supports text-based donations for more than 20 separate Sport Relief fundraising projects across the UK. OpenMarket is providing four charity donation SMS short codes so that donors have the choice of donating different amounts of money via SMS. The SMS donation campaign began on January 13 with special Sport Relief editions of the BBC show “The Great British Bake Off”. The programme featured an on-screen message that invited viewers to donate money by sending a text message to a short code supplied and managed by OpenMarket. The campaign will continue with other shows and events, culminating with the Sport Relief Games on March 23.
Comic Relief is the latest charity to enlist OpenMarket’s help for its mobile requirements. The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is currently using the OpenMarket Mobile Engagement Platform for donations made via Premium SMS for its Philippines Typhoon relief appeal. Children in Need, the BBC’s charity for disadvantaged children and young people in the UK, also used OpenMarket for SMS-based mobile donations for its 2013 campaign.
“Our selection to support Sport Relief reinforces OpenMarket’s market position as the mobile provider of choice for major charities and high profile broadcast campaigns,” said Adrian Sarosi, Director of Marketing and Business Development at OpenMarket EMEA. “With the experience and insight of our team, plus the tried-and-tested reliability of our technology, organisations can properly capitalise on the value of mobile devices as an affordable, convenient and flexible channel to reach and engage with large numbers of end-users.”
Sport Relief is one of the UK’s biggest fundraising events, and encourages people to raise money through sponsored sport-related events and activities leading up to the weekend of Friday March 21 to Sunday March 23 2014. The money raised is spent by Comic Relief to support projects helping poor and disadvantaged people in the UK and around the world. Supporters of the cause can text FIVE to 70510 to donate £5, terms and conditions apply. Texts cost £5 plus the standard network charges and donors must be 16 or over and have the bill payer’s permission.
