Text-Message to make Athletics Donation
In late June, we wrote about the University of Colorado and their research into using text-messaging as a fundraising tool. At the time, no athletics department had yet implemented such a campaign, but the potential of this type of program was intriguing enough to pursue. Just a few short months later, Colorado State University became the first athletics program to utilize text-messaging at a home football game.
For their home game against the University of Utah this past weekend, Colorado State, with assistance from Mobile Accord, Inc. (owned by a CSU grad), launched its first-ever mobile giving campaign. Fans at the football game (approximately 30,000) had the opportunity to support the university’s Athletics General Scholarship Fund by texting RAMS to a given number. Participants will see a $10 charge on their next phone bill, thus leaving credit card numbers out of the equation. The $10 will then be directed to the university.
At the time of this writing, it is still unknown how many fans participated with a text-gift. However, even a small response rate could yield noticeable results in CSU’s scholarship fund. Other schools, such as Florida A & M University, are also using this technology for fundraising.