U. of Colorado Hopes to Raise Money by Text Message at Football Games

June 25, 2009

U. of Colorado Hopes to Raise Money by Text Message at Football Games

The University of Colorado is looking at ways to solicit donations of $5 or so through text messages at football games or other events, the Daily Camera , a Boulder newspaper, reported today.

An announcer could ask fans to pull out their phones during a break in play and text a small donation for scholarships or other purposes. The mobile donations would be paid through the donor’s cellphone bill.

The small donations can add up. On a recent episode of American Idol, the musician Alicia Keys asked fans to text message donations to her charity that helps HIV orphans in Africa, “Keep a Child Alive.” Her request raised $450,000 from 90,000 donors, the newspaper reported.

One student who had a season pass to football games last fall said she and other students would probably donate to Colorado if they could do it through a text message.

“It’d be a good way because it’s something that students do all the time anyway,” Ariel Braude. a sophomore, said.

(Read a Chronicle of Philanthropy article about new efforts to make cellphone donations an efficient way for charities to raise money.)

—Kathryn Masterson

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U. of Colorado Hopes to Raise Money by Text Message at Football Games