I have also blogged on the whole issue, partly in response to a NY Times article that considered the cost issue (http://volkersthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/04/using-power-of-mobile-for-good-causes.html). Check it out.

http://gdayworld.thepodcastnetwork.com/2007/04/21/cams-world-for-21-april-2007/

On the show that he does on The Podcast Network, we’ve been discussing 21st century ways to raise funds for this kind of work. We tried PayPal but not enough of the audience had accounts and they are a pain to set up. So next we tried mobiles. We surveyed the audience and many of them said they would be prepared to add $5 or $10 to their monthly mobile bill as a donation to further Bob’s work. It sounds easy to do and its a “set and forget” model.

HOWEVER… once we started talking to the mobile providers in Australia, we quickly found out that about 80% of each donation would be lost to the middlemen. The mobileco (in this country it’s Telstra) and the middleware providers take a HUGE chunk.

If someone out there would build a service that enabled people to add $5 to their monthly mobile charge but didn’t want to take $4 of it, I think we’d have a model.

Alex -thanks for the comment. Good points.

Russell

Some points:-

I think the remote end (i.e. receiving of advice/money) needs to have a mobile solution, primarily. But the giving end (assuming it’s in richer, “westernised” countries) the focus could be more on the web side for ease of interaction.

I think people need to be convinced their money is not going to, or being intercepted by, con men, charlatans or other corruption. I think it is impossible to avoid this 100% but I think the structure of any “giving” service needs to cater for this. I think the general idea of giving directly to many individuals, who have been identified as individuals (e.g. targeting specific phone numbers) is the right approach – entrusting one or a few people on the recieving side with money or advice intended for many opens the way to corruption unfortunately.

I think real feedback from the individual recipient of money/advice is a really good idea, and making it public stops givers from feeling like they’ve thrown something into a black hole. (I’m thinking a scrolling feed like AdMob has for ads on the front page, but with history, and clickable links to more details). Again, the infrastructure of the service could support this, matching feedback with stuff sent via the recipient’s mobile number.

By the way, I am actively interested in and looking at building a software service to do something like this if possible and more, ideally on a non-profit basis, so if anyone’s interested, please get in touch.

Alex Kerr
MD, PhoneThing Ltd.
email: alex@phonething.com
website: http://www.phonething.com

As evidence of this take a look at the way in which leading charities have all got adoption communities (eg. London Zoo http://www.zsl.org/info/support-us/adopt-an-animal,174,AR.html) which involve those who donate by keeping them personally connected to the recipient within their charity (eg. a particular baby panda etc).

I feel the mobile involvement in this will transform the world but not just in the direct donation of money but in the provision of things much more empowering, just imagine…

…the ability for a UK based Veterinarian to help a small African rural farmer with personalized advice on animal husbandry

…for an American Engineer to help a Indian builder to improve his well building technique or fix his tractor engine

…for an Australian Doctor to help a Chinese nurse to provide more informed and better quality care within a region effected by a contagious disease

…a Spanish lawyer to help monitor human rights in South America

…a German business person to help a small business person to succeed in Russia

I know from personal experience that this is very rewarding for professional people and have a very good friend who is an eye surgeon and travels to Africa every year to give the gift of sight to people who could not otherwise afford it. By making it easier to begin giving I’m sure a lot more people will participate in this in this type of activity and the rewards would most importantly ensure that this help continues into the long term.

I wonder if Make Poverty History have thought of bringing into existence such a pairing service for mentor/sponsors?