Like Retail, the Charity sector has embraced mobile with enthusiasm over the past few years, and the Most Effective Mobile Charity Campaign/Solution was one of the most keenly-contested categories in last year’s Awards.
After much deliberation from the judges, the accolade went to OpenMarket for its role in mobilising the Disaster and Emergencies Committee’s (DEC) East Africa Drought Appeal. OpenMarket created a solution that enables members of the public to donate £5 towards the appeal by texting one of several keyword, such as ‘HELP’ to a dedicated shortcode, 70000.
The 70000 shortcode was developed by OpenMarket specifically for use in charity appeals. In addition, the company worked with all UK mobile operators to facilitate rapid, VAT-free outpayments, by linking directly to operator billing APIs.
OpenMarket’s efforts means that the shortcode could – and still can – be deployed across all mobile networks in less than 24 hours. At the time of its Awards submission, the mobile text donation mechanic had raised more than £1.2m, in just a few months.
So the bar has been set pretty high in the Charity Campaign category then, but we are confident that there are some great campaigns from 2012 to compete for the honours this year. 
To enter this or any other category in this years Effective Mobile Marketing Awards, head over to the Awards website for details, download the Entry Form, and get it back to us before 10 August. And remember, its completely free to enter, and you can submit as many campaigns as you think are worthy of recognition.
The Awards Ceremony takes place in London on 29 November.
If you missed our Awards webinar earlier this week, you can catch a recording of it here. It’s very short, only around 10 minutes, just a quick run through of the entry criteria and key dates.
