Fundraising:
SEND A MESSAGE & SAVE A LIFE DONATE
$10 TO RED CROSS INT'L RELIEF
TEXT HAITI TO 90999
Mgive and The American Red Cross have teamed up to raise funds for the relief effort in Haiti. By simply texting 90999, you can donate ten dollars to American Red Cross, where 100% of your donation will go towards their fundraising campaign. According to mgive.com, the donations are made within 10 seconds and charged to the user’s cell phone bill. It provides the Red Cross a way to collect donations without charging credit cards or collecting cash. The result has been over $2 million in donations.
· Receipts can be printed from their website.
· Mgive has waived their transaction fee to aid in the efforts.
· Complete list of FAQ’s
Twitter and Facebook Apps are also helping in the fund raising and communication efforts:
Use mgive’s Facebook App to help The American Red Cross.
Haitian musicain, Wyclef Jean, is using Twitter to spread the word about his efforts to raise funds for his charity, Yele. Simply text 501501 to donate $5.00 toward the Haitian relief efforts.
Communication:
Technology has also played a bigger role in communication throughout the disaster. Since phone lines are down, families are relying on Facebook, Skype and Twitter to get updates from their friends and family currently in Haiti.
Hackers Helping Haiti:
CrisisCamp Hackathons have been set up for Saturday, January 15, 2010.
"The unconference-style events are free for attendees, who are asked to volunteer their time and expertise to create technology projects that provide data, information, maps and technical assistance to non-governmental organizations, relief agencies and the public.
The CrisisCamps being held this weekend will all directly benefit Haitian relief efforts.
Volunteers of all kinds - the technically talented and others, too - are requested to sign up."
Avoid Social Networking & Email Scams:
Twitter Hoax - Airlines are not offering free flights to Haiti for doctors and nurses.
Avoid Scams by not clicking on email links, and by researching the organization you choose to send your donation. InterAction provides a frequently updated list.
ZDnet.com published an informative blog titled: "Haiti Earthquake Themed Blackhat SEO Campaigns Serving Scareware."