mobile donations

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

Posted on by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

Fonix logo in blue

 

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.”

Text-to-donate raises over £6.8m in mobile donations for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

Posted on by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

Fonix logo in blue

 

Fonix has been the mobile donation partner for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

More than £6.8m has been raised by the UK public via text-to-donate so far, to support the aid effort in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries.

Since the beginning of March text-to-donate has been promoted across the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky, Radiocentre, BT Sport and Co-op to name a few.

Concert for Ukraine, which took place in the UK on 29 March, raised more than £4.9m in mobile donations, helping contribute to the £13.4m raised on the night of the Appeal.

The two-hour show brought together names from the world of music for a unique event spreading a message of hope and support, and most importantly, raising funds for the ongoing DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. The live show was broadcast across ITV, STV, ITV Hub and STV Player.

The show promoted text-to-donate, allowing donors to donate via text at one of four price points: £10, £20, £30 and £40. Donations were charged to a donor’s mobile phone bill.

Rob Weisz, CEO of Fonix, said: “We are so very proud to be able to work with the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to help the humanitarian effort to support those affected by the crisis in Ukraine.”

Simon Beresford, Director of Fundraising and Marketing of DEC, added: “We’re thankful to Fonix for enabling mobile donations so quickly and to the generous UK public whose donations will go on to make such a difference. As humanitarian needs continue to grow, the money raised will help to provide vital support to families caught up in this devastating conflict.”

ClearCourse acquires mobile marketing services provider Cymba

Posted on by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

ClearCourse Partnership a group of innovative technology companies providing useful, integrated software solutions, announces a deal to acquire Cymba, a provider of mobile marketing solutions to businesses and charities. The acquisition strengthens ClearCourse’s not-for-profit and online payments offering and sees the Company joining the Group’s Business Services division.

Founded in 2004, Cymba provides solutions to help leading charities as well as big-name brands connect with their audiences through mobile marketing. The Company offers its clients a wide range of services such as mobile messaging, competitions and mobile donations for the charity sector. As part of the Group, Cymba will benefit from integration with ClearCourse’s proprietary payments platform, ClearAccept, and synergies with other brands within the Group’s charities offering.

Based in London, Cymba’s focussed team of experts services charities and global brands that are recognisable all over the world. The team offers leading systems and bespoke advice, using their extensive industry knowledge to help clients including UNICEF, the RSPCA, Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, the Royal British Legion as well as Coca-Cola drive their mobile marketing campaigns.

Gerry Gualtieri, CEO of ClearCourse, commented: “We are excited to announce our acquisition of Cymba whose team brings a great deal of industry expertise as well as impressive clients to the ClearCourse Group. The deal represents ClearCourse’s 10th acquisition in the charity and not-for-profit market and provides further opportunity for collaboration and knowledge sharing across our growing [Business Services] division.

Nevil Coleman, Managing Director of Cymba, said: “Joining the ClearCourse Group is a great opportunity for Cymba, and we’re looking forward to working with Gerry and the rest of the team. The expertise and systems that we’ll benefit from, such as ClearCourse’s payments platform ClearAccept, will help power the next phase of Cymba’s growth and development. We’re very pleased to help expand ClearCourse’s footprint in the charities space, and we can’t wait to start collaborating with businesses across the Group.”

 

The Big Night In Appeal raised more than £10.3m via mobile donations

Posted on by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

Fonix has announced today that more than £10.3m has been processed in mobile donations for The Big Night In Appeal.

The three-hour show took place on 23rd April and saw BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief join forces for the first time. The £10.3m processed through text donations helped contribute to the £27.3m raised on the night of the Appeal. Funds raised will be split equally between BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief and will go on to support vital local charities and projects in the UK who are providing essential help to those most in need.

The show promoted text-to-donate, allowing donors to donate via text at a range of price points: £5, £10, £20 and £30. Three competitions were also promoted on the night including the David Walliams prize draw, Little Mix prize draw and a chance to win a Morgan car. The Morgan prize draw was the top competition for the night and was sourced by Fonix.

Donations for the competitions were charged to the entrants mobile phone bill. Using Fonix’s delayed donation technology entrants had the choice to opt-out without being charged within 60 minutes of entering.

Clare Charles, Director of Media and Charity at Fonix, said: “It’s been such an honor to work with Comic Relief and BBC Children in Need for this great cause. It’s also amazing to see the impact of running competitions – the money donated was rather astonishing!”

Kerry Howard, Head of Operations Appeal for BBC Children in Need, said: We’re so thankful to Fonix for enabling mobile donations so quickly and to the generous public whose donations will go on to make such a difference. A huge amount of money has been raised to help projects around the country that are doing vital work to support people throughout the pandemic.”

Jules Thorne, Campaign Co-director at Comic Relief, said: “Thanks to Fonix’s support and the enormous generosity of the public, both our charities will now make sure that this desperately needed funding supports vulnerable people, as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Fonix to power mobile donations across all of Cancer Research UK’s fundraising activity

Posted on by Andrea Putnam-Moorcroft

Fonix, the mobile messaging and payments specialist, today announced that it has extended its partnership with Cancer Research UK, one of the world’s leading cancer charities dedicated to saving lives through research.

Fonix first started working with Cancer Research UK in 2017 for the Stand Up To Cancer campaign, a joint national fundraiser from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4, seamlessly enabling mobile donations and Gift Aid. This continued in 2018 with Fonix successfully processing SMS donations to Stand Up To Cancer made during the live show on Channel 4 – significantly contributing to the record £24.6 million raised on the night.

This extended contract will see Fonix power the mobile donations across all of the charity’s fundraising activity, including Race for Life, other challenge events such as Shine Night Walk and the Great Hike and also as a direct response to indoor and outdoor print advertising.

Kathryn Toner, Head of Individual Giving at Cancer Research UK said: “With a proven track record across all high-profile charity campaigns, Fonix’s experience and expertise in the charity sector speaks for itself.

“Text to donate is a great fundraising mechanic for the charity as it is a quick and easy way that the public can donate to the charity and help us bring forward the day when all cancers are cured. Cancer Research UK receives no government funding for its life saving research and relies entirely on the generosity of the public. We’re always looking for new ways that the public can donate to the charity such as raising donations via competitions.”

Clare Charles, account director at Fonix added: “It’s been such a privilege to work with Cancer Research UK over the past two years and in this time we’ve seen how our shared passion for innovation has positively impacted the amount raised for such a good cause.

“The extended partnership was the obvious next step for Fonix and Cancer Research UK, and we look forward to driving mobile donations and seeing the results across all fundraising activity.”