Mobile Commons

Recently, we had a chance to chat with Jim Manis, the Chairman and CEO of the Mobile Giving Foundation.  Mobile Commons has been working with the Mobile Giving Foundation (MGF) to bring mobile donations to our 501(c)3 customers. Mobile Fundraising is new, and has tremendous potential to change the way that microdonations are collected and we’re excited to share the following interview with Jim Manis, the man who made it happen.

Jim, can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you came to start the Mobile Giving Foundation?

Sure, my background is inclusive of being a co-founder of a company called m-Qube. We were one of the first to develop the direct to consumer mobile content market in North America. We really helped pioneer the notion that it’s all about consumer control where the consumer—not the carrier—is deciding what they want, where, when and how they access information, content and entertainment. m-Qube was sold to VeriSign a few years ago who in turn has been a significant contributor to the Mobile Giving Foundation.

I have also been very active across the wireless industry, including serving as the Global Chairman of the Mobile Marketing Association from 2003 to 2006. We worked with application providers, media companies, ad agencies, content providers and the wireless carriers to establish standards for mobile application behavior and consumer protection.

While at m-Qube, I led an effort in partnership with the US wireless carriers and the CTIA, when both Katrina and the Asian Pacific Tsunami occurred to enable emergency relief donations with a 100% pass through using a premium SMS transaction on your mobile device. People’s response to the relief donations was amazing and underscored an empowerment that came with the ability for people to respond immediately – or by impulse – to such an overwhelming need. After m-Qube was acquired by VeriSign, I wanted to take what we’d done for those special events and make it available for all charitable organizations as part of my commitment to give back.

And what did you see as the main barrier to opening up mobile fundraising?

Well, what was missing was the operational layer between carriers and nonprofit organizations so that both parties could have confidence in the system and that the process itself enabled an acceptable rate of pass through to the recipient foundation. We also wanted to do it in such a way that donors and potential donors saw their phone as a viable and trusted way to make micro-donations. The Mobile Giving Foundation, as a 501(c)3, provides this operational layer.

Can you speak a little more about the operational layer and what that entails?

The operational layer facilitates the ability for nonprofits to interact with their donors through the mobile channel, regardless of what phone service donors use. The MGF provides the technical connectivity layer and the business agreements that transmit messages and billing events, and frames the standards and best practices by which money can be raised where a billing event occurs on the carrier bill. The Mobile Giving Foundation extends this operational layer to a broader ecosystem that includes application providers like you [Mobile Commons], the wireless carriers, and the nonprofit organizations. Fundamentally, it’s a way for nonprofits to reach their donors. Those donors are also customers of the wireless carriers.

We also make sure that all federal and state laws are complied with and donors get receipted. A big part of the operational responsibility is message delivery and the billing that allows the donor to make a $5 or $10 contribution that appears on the carrier phone bill. That donation gets remitted to the Mobile Giving Foundation and then we settle with the partner charity. When you look at the billing process and the messaging systems of each carrier, they’re very different. When you look at it from an operational perspective, we remove those complexities for nonprofits and application providers. We then provide a receipt to the donor for their contribution.

Why did you use the term micro-donations?

By definition, it’s a micro-donation because of the price point ($5 and $10) and means of conveyance on the carrier bill. When you start something new, it’s important to keep it simple. The Mobile Giving Foundation elected to go with a price point that is acceptable to all wireless carriers and try to keep some commonality around those price points as new giving programs go to market. As consumers become more educated, they’ll realize this is a mechanism to make donations and as those consumers become more comfortable, you’ll see more innovation around price points—but, there will always be a cap. This is one of many cost elements that show up on a consumer’s carrier bill.

Why did you decide to make the Mobile Giving Foundation a nonprofit?

There are several reasons. First, my goal is to help the wireless industry apply resources that support worthy causes. Second, I want to help establish a new level of efficiency using wireless resources and try to keep the overhead costs to nonprofits at 10% or less than the amount they raise using the channel. Third, I want this channel to be trusted by donors, charities and carriers. It seemed to me like the best way to provide end-to-end protection and accomplish these goals was to make the Mobile Giving Foundation a 501(c)3 with the MGF serving as an umbrella for the donation, collection, remittance and advisement process.

Can you speak to the direct responsibilities of the Mobile Giving Foundation in the approval process for fundraising programs?

The MGF certifies that a nonprofit meets the established criteria for mobile giving, and reviews and approves that a specific mobile giving campaign meets our standards and those established by other industry organizations such as the MMA. The processes used to create these standards and criteria include representatives from interests across the spectrum. It is important to us that the MGF helps ensure the integrity of mobile giving by focusing on clarity to donors when they are asked to give and transparency for donors when a gift has been made.

What’s the timing like in the approval process?

For the foreseeable future, it’s a manual process with heavy overhead. We are working within a system and with processes developed to support commercial premium transactions. NPO qualifications, campaign approvals, short code provisioning, billing system updates, application testing all currently translate to approximately an 8 week time frame. This will eventually get shorter as our own capabilities improve and our processes are streamlined.

Any Closing Thoughts?

I’m very pleased that we can make available a whole new fundraising channel to nonprofits, and just as importantly, help provide a channel for a new, younger demographic to explore, learn and give to causes of interest to them. I’m particularly delighted that the wireless carriers see the value of supporting this effort, and doing so on a no cost basis. They have been generous in helping pioneer this new channel. Of course, we love the fact that companies like Mobile Commons and others have stepped up and leveraged their technology in the giving space. Our collective efforts will literally help change to face of giving today.