Mobile Accord has received the Mobile Marketing Association’s 2009 Global Mobile Marketing Award for Social Impact in recognition of the company’s historic mGive mobile giving campaign for Alicia Keys’ Keep a Child Alive foundation. The Text ALIVE Challenge call to action during Keys’ May 13 appearance on "American Idol" raised $450,000 in $5 donations within minutes from more than 90,000 mobile donors contributing via cell phone. In total, the campaign raised $660,000 in micro-donations.
Co-founded by Keys, Keep a Child Alive (KCA) provides life-saving anti-retroviral treatment, care and support services to children and their families in Africa and India whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS. The May 13 call to action was the first nationwide, primetime mobile giving initiative for the organization and the U.S. wireless market.
Keys asked "American Idol" viewers to use their mobile phones to give $5 by sending the text message "ALIVE" to 90999. Seconds after texting in, donors received a return message asking for confirmation. Mobile donors confirmed by replying "YES" via text message, adding a $5 donation to their next phone bill.
Leading up to "American Idol," KCA issued the Text ALIVE Challenge across all traditional media channels and social media using mGive mobile solutions developed by Mobile Accord. Innovative tactics included a custom Facebook Giving application, viral Flash based web application, and mobile donation action page (http://keepachildalive.org/widgets/mobile.html) promoted via Google Adwords. Through mGive, KCA gave supporters the ability not only to make a $5 mobile donation online, but also to share the opportunity on social networking sites and blogs.
The Text ALIVE Challenge targeted a younger demographic online, using various social networks (Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Ning, etc) to engage supporters and solicit donations, giving users the ability to donate in ten seconds without having to deal with credit cards.
Mobile Accord founder and chairman James Eberhard said, "We are very proud of the Text ALIVE Challenge, which dramatically demonstrated the potential of mobile giving. It is an honor for Mobile Accord and mGive to have supported a cause as worthy as Keep a Child Alive, and we are thrilled that the Mobile Marketing Association has recognized our efforts."
The MMA’s fifth annual awards competition attracted hundreds of submissions in twelve categories from companies across the globe. Winners were selected by the MMA Awards Selection Committee comprised of global industry leaders from wireless carriers, technology and content providers, agencies and industry publications. Global Mobile Marketing Award recipients were announced November 18.
