January 12, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
Donors who made text-message gifts to aid survivors of the devastating earthquake in Haiti two years ago have continued to turn to their cellphones to give after other disasters, according to a new study.
Four in 10 of those donors texted a contribution to help people in Japan following last year’s earthquake and tsunami, according to a survey of 863 people who made a text-message gift after the earthquake in Haiti. More than a quarter of donors to Haiti reported that they gave via cellphone after the BP oil spill in 2010, and nearly 20 percent said they made a text-message gift to help victims of last year’s tornadoes in the South.
The survey was conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, together with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard and the mGive Foundation, with a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Roughly three-quarters of donors said their gift after the disaster in Haiti was the first they had made via cellphone. About 80 percent said that text messaging was the only way they contributed to Haiti recovery efforts. About one-third reported making more than one text-message donation.
