Italy: How good are those “good” sms’?

A study carried out by Doxa in 2006 found that 26 million Italians donated to charity by sending a text message from their mobile (or landline) phones. Usually the amount they give is not more than 1 or 2 euros, but the overall figures that can be reached with this fundraising technique are surprising: in 2006 Tim, Vodafone, Wind, Tre and Telecome Italia transferred a total of 42 million euros to 68 charities.

But how does this fundraising mechanism actually work? The theory is simple: the charity and the telephone operator sign a contract that makes the operator a fundraising ?agent? for the charity. The procedure is free for the charity, which commits to promoting the campaign nationally through the media.

So far so good, but there are a few important details that aren?t covered by the contract. Such as how funds raised with sms? are made accountable; the conditions that enable further information to be obtained from the operator and even the time it takes the money to be transferred. What these grey areas mean in practice is that there is not a great deal of transparency.

Lets start from the charities. While the advertising campaigns are up to them to promote, these rarely explain the conditions that different operators impose on the sms donation process. An example? Mobile phones that have business accounts may be (as is the case with phone operator Tre) restricted from sending sms donations. So while the donor may send a message, the message may not translate into a real donation. Same thing goes for messages that are sent from phone?s that don?t have the credit.

Keeping this is mind is important, for, if we look at one of Italy?s most successful sms campaigns, Airc?s 2006 raise funds for cancer campaign that lasted for over a month, the numbers just don?t add up. The figures tell us that Vodafone gave Airc 1.5% more than what the number of messages they received should have raised. Wind and Tre on the other hand gave equal amounts, that is to say for every one hundred 1 euro messages, 100 euros were donated. With phone operator Tim the disparities re-emerge, this time they are quite substantial, as 13% less money was donated than what the number of sms? is. Same story for Telecom donations from landlines, where 8% less was received.

How can these variations be explained? Is it really down to all those business account holders? Do that many donors give when they don't have the funds on the phone to? And are these failed messages counted into the total message count or not?

It would seem that real transparency would need a different set of rules. ?Yes?, admits Niccolò Contucci head of fundraising for Telethon, ?a different set up would be required, but I trust the operators and have never had reason to doubt their intentions?.

The question is not about the intentions of the operators, but rather about the transparency of the system as a whole. Here is a brief summary of the main points that we think should be reviewed.

Reporting
Each operator uses their own reporting system. Some keep track of the sms? being sent on a daily basis and thus are more likely to keep track of the failed messages. Others automatically transfer the donations onto the bank account and only count the number of text messages at the end of the campaign.

Failed messages
Not all sms? manage to send their donations. When an sms is sent off it automatically reaches the operators but before turning into money passes through the operator?s administrative system. This is where the differences between operators take their toll, as some choose to accept all sms?, even if they come from business phones. Others do not. In neither of the cases do operators report on the rejected calls, nor do the donors ever find out that their sms? never made it.

Timing
It takes at least 60 days for sms? to be transferred to the charity?s bank and no less than 120 days if the message comes from a landline. Some charities have had to wait months, and even a year (Telecom, 2006) for the money to arrive.

Contracts
There are no standard contracts, and each operator comes to different, and often spoken, agreements with the charities.

The overall benefits of sms fundraising are not in question. Sms? have enabled charities to reach out to a much wider audience and raise millions (literally) for their cause. But more transparency is needed.