Corinne Ramey, MobileActive.org

The numbers speak for themselves: There are currently 236 million cell phone users in the U.S. – an astounding 76% of the population. In December of last year alone, 18.7 billion text messages were sent — up 92% from 9.7 billion in December 2005. Estimates for this year are topping 195 billion text messages sent in 2007. That is 600 million text messages a day.

Nonprofits and advocacy organizations around the world are increasingly turning to mobile phones for advocating for issues and engaging constituents, for providing services, and even for fundraising.

Katrin Verclas, CalderStrategies.com and MobileActive.org

There is increasing evidence that mobile social marketing works in increasing awareness and moving people to actions. It is also becoming an effective way to engage users and constituents. Throughout our experience with mobile campaigns, we've run into some great campaigns and some failures as well.

Here are the top ten things that nonprofits should and shouldn't do when running a mobile campaign.

Corinne Ramey, MobileActive.org

NARAL Pro-Choice America recently began a mobile program -- they're calling it Txt4Choice -- and has been exploring how to use mobile in ways that compliment and integrate into their already developed communications strategy.

Curious how your state ranks on reproductive choice? NARAL makes it easy to find out. By texting the word "grade" and the abbreviation of your state to a short code, you get an almost-instantaneous text response with your state's grade and opportunities for more information.

Katrin Verclas and Corinne Ramey, MobileActive.org (with Michael Stein)

Mobiles are becoming increasingly intertwined in Americans' daily lives: 75% of Americans have their mobile phones on and within reach during waking hours, and 59% wouldn't lend their mobile to a friend for a day. Fifteen percent of survey respondents even said they've answered their mobile phone during sex.

The mobile landscape truly is primed for NGOs. Nonprofits can tap into the power of mobiles and learn from many of the mobile marketing techniques that are already being used in the commercial sector.

The Houston Chronicle has a report about a project designed to reduce the digital divide among the elderly. The program, sponsored by AT&T, the OASIS institute, and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, is designed to teach senior citizens how to use cell phones:

"Marlene Matzner — the Houston director of OASIS, a national nonprofit designed to enhance the quality of life for older adults — said the program is part of the agency's plan to reduce the digital divide among the elderly."

Recent research has shown that text messaging works to get out the youth vote. Advocacy groups would do well to watch the success of OASIS's program, particularly as seniors are already those most likely to participate in U.S. elections.

OASIS plans to bring the cell phone education program to 21 other cities after Houston, and to teach computer and Internet skills to the elderly, as well.

“Don’t you wish your city was cleaner and greener? Begin by planting free saplings offered by Greenpeace. Reply GREEN to 6363 to get your sapling.”

The campaign, run by Greenpeace India, generated 149 new members, a conversion from lead to member of 16%.

How are mobile phones used in fundraising campaigns of NGOs around the world and what results are we seeing? How about the United States - where is mobile fundraising now and where is it headed? For a critical and insightful review, download the latest MobileActive Strategy Guide in our series of hard-hitting evaluations of the potential and perils of mobile phones in social change work.

See all guides and download the latest here.

MobileActive Guide #2 Released

NTEN and MobileActive.org are announcing the second MobileActive Guide, profiling strategies and civil society organizations using mobile phones in their work to make the world a better place. The second MobileActive Guide focuses on using mobile phones in issue advocacy. The guide features case studies from around the world, strategies for using mobile phones in advocacy work, and a how-to section for advocacy organizations considering using mobile phones to advance their causes.

Download the MobileActive Guide #2 here.