Fonix and JustGiving partner

Posted on 18/09/2024 by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

Fonix and JustGiving partner to introduce SMS donations to thousands of UK charities

London, September 18, 2024

Fonix, a leading mobile payments and interactive services company, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with JustGiving, the UK’s leading online fundraising platform. This collaboration is set to transform charitable giving by integrating seamless SMS donation technology, making it easier than ever for individuals to support causes they care about.

Through this partnership, Fonix and JustGiving are enabling donors to support their favourite charities through quick and secure mobile payments. Leveraging Fonix’s cutting-edge technology, JustGiving users can now make donations directly via SMS, offering a fast and convenient way to contribute, whether at home or on the go, no credit or debit card required.

This partnership also empowers charities with a powerful new tool to engage with supporters and drive donations. By expanding payment options to include SMS donations, charities can reach a wider audience and significantly enhance the impact of their fundraising efforts.

According to the Annual Market Review for Phone-Paid Services 2023–2024, £38.6 million was raised through phone-paid services in the UK during the last financial year. Since 2014, Fonix has processed £333 million in SMS donations. Offering this capability to JustGiving’s 20,000 UK charity partners represents an opportunity to make a marked increase to these figures.

Oliver Shaw-Latimer, Senior Director of Payments and Innovation at JustGiving, commented: “We’re pleased to partner with Fonix to enhance the ways our charities can accept donations in the UK. Their market-leading messaging and payment technology will enable us to optimise a key aspect of charity fundraising and audience engagement. JustGiving is committed to making giving as easy and accessible as possible. This partnership allows us to offer our users a fast, secure, and convenient way to donate through their mobile devices, helping us continue our mission of connecting people with the causes they care about.”

Rob Weisz, CEO of Fonix, added: “JustGiving has been a pivotal force in charity fundraising for over two decades and remains one of the most recognised platforms for both charities and donors. This partnership will allow JustGiving’s charity partners to leverage Fonix’s mobile payment technology to offer text donations in the UK – a crucial donation method given its simplicity and widespread use. Having raised over £330 million through text donations to date, we’re excited to continue supporting fantastic causes alongside JustGiving.”

This partnership comes at a perfect time, with JustGiving announcing a record £550 million raised for nearly 20,000 UK charities through their platform in 2023, and more than 950,000 JustGiving fundraising pages set up – a 9% increase from 2022.

Fonix has a proven track record with charities of all sizes across the UK, including Comic Relief, Children in Need, Socceraid, Stand Up To Cancer, and many more. Their text donation technology enables charities to reach a broader audience, with some organisations seeing as much as 80% of donations coming through mobile. Fonix’s innovative techniques maximise donations, value, and Gift Aid declarations.

Fonix has processed £333m in SMS donations since 2014

Posted on 19/10/2023 by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

A huge SMS market milestone!

Take a look at the video that Fonix has made to celebrate their milestone. Fonix have processed the record amount of £3million in donation in an hour!Fonix has built bespoke microsites to help charities increase GiftAid, and help run the charity campaigns watched by millions. They have also run the vital shortcodes that help charities collect the donations they need, and have an extensive list of charity partners they work with including some of the most recognised and loved charities in the country.

You can read more about their work in their Charity Whitepaper.

ITV extends mobile interactive services partnership with Fonix

Posted on 13/10/202317/10/2023 by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

Fonix are delighted to announce that ITV has agreed to gradually extend its commercial partnership with Fonix to include SMS billing payments, alongside the existing relationship for carrier billing and charity services.

Fonix will continue to support all mobile carrier billing across the ITV competition portal and gradually extend to supporting all competition interactivity for its on-air formats including high-profile shows such as Dancing on Ice, I’m A Celebrity, Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, ITV Sport, Love Island and This Morning.

We’re thrilled that all of the hard work at Fonix has enabled us to deliver a growing and closer relationship with ITV into the future. Mobile interactivity and payments have always represented a great opportunity to extend the viewing experience for broadcasters from an engagement and monetisation perspective and we’re delighted to be supporting ITV with their strategy in this space.

At Fonix, we’ve always taken great pride in the quality services and support that we’re able to deliver for major brands and broadcasters like ITV, so it’s fantastic to have that recognised with this partnership!

Fonix announces launch into Republic of Ireland and partners with Bauer Media Audio Ireland

Posted on 25/07/2022 by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

Fonix, the leading interactive service provider for mobile payment and messaging solutions has launched this month in Ireland.

Across Ireland, Fonix’s clients can now collect payments for in-app content, games, competitions and digital services from more than 5.1 million mobile subscribers by charging purchases to their postpaid phone bill or prepaid SIM card.

The expansion has started with Fonix managing the mobile interactivity for Bauer Ireland. Bauer Ireland is the country’s largest commercial radio group with five radio brands including the national stations Today FM and Newstalk, two SPIN youth stations and 98FM in Dublin.

Stephen George, Partnerships Director at Fonix comments:

“Heading into Ireland is another step to achieving our strategic growth plan. We are always looking for new ways to innovate; this is just the start to help us magnify our efforts and strengthen our vision.

“Fonix provides a secure, instant and frictionless experience for consumers while also ensuring first-class mobile payment technology, delivering efficiencies for brands.

“We look forward to driving growth across this market; our partnership with Bauer Ireland is a first-class example of our connectivity in Ireland being brought to life.”

Fonix to power mobile donations for The Prince’s Trust Awards on ITV

Posted on 26/05/2022 by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

Today, Fonix announced that it will be providing the text donation mechanic for The Prince’s Trust Awards. SMS will feature on the awards for the first time in its history. Hosted by Ant & Dec, The Prince’s Trust Awards will air today on ITV.

The Awards recognise young people who have succeeded against all the odds, improved their chances in life and had a positive impact on their local community.

Fonix will be working with The Prince’s Trust and ITV to provide a text-to-donate platform, enabling donors to send a text message to donate either £10, £20, £30 or £40, all charged to their mobile phone bills.

The Prince’s Trust helps young people from disadvantaged communities to get their lives back on track by giving them the confidence and skills to live, learn and earn. Founded by HRH The Prince of Wales in 1976, the charity supports 11 to 30-year-olds across the UK who are unemployed, those struggling at school or at risk of exclusion. Since its inception The Trust has supported more than one million young people in the UK.

Clare Charles, Head of Client Management, said: “At Fonix, we have seen the huge impact of text donations across televised campaigns and are delighted that this will feature on The Prince’s Trust Awards show. We’re looking forward to seeing the results and the difference it makes to help support young people.”

Jessica Mitchell, Individual Supporters Manager for The Princes Trust, said: “Each year, The Prince’s Trust Awards allows us to celebrate the achievements and admire the resilience of young people across the UK and internationally. Incorporating fundraising into the show for the very first time is a natural and exciting addition for us. Fonix’s experience within the charity sector and continued success with text-to-donate made the partnership an exciting prospect.”

Fonix