Brad White

Following the catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake near Port au Prince, Haiti on January 12th, it became evident that it would take worldwide intervention to prevent further chaos from engulfing the nation. Years of instability coupled with poverty, a lack of resources and poor infrastructure hampered initial relief efforts.

A friend and I were watching the National Football League playoffs the following weekend when an advertisement came across the bottom of the screen. To donate $10 dollars to the American Red Cross for Earthquake Relief please text the word HAITI to 90999. After just discussing the tragedy and images of the devastation fresh on our minds we, although somewhat skeptical, both texted the message to make our donations. We began to discuss why no one had thought of this idea sooner. We then quickly criticized our own decision with second thought questions like:

• I wonder what they will do with the money.
• How much of this money will really make it to Haiti?
• And Did the Red Cross have to pay for these advertisements?

Maybe we should have asked these questions before hand. I did find out later that the real donations would not usually be made until the phone bill payment is received. But, Verizon Wireless had pledged to send the money in advance because of the serious nature and urgency of the pledge. As for the specifics of where the money will go and how much of it will get there – the full amount goes to the Red Cross Haiti relief fund. But the thing I remind myself is that I gave because that is what God put in my heart to do. I cannot question His motives; I can only pray that my $10 dollars will reach its intended purpose, miracles will come from mayhem, and hope will return to the Haitian people.

As an emotional advertisement the donation to the American Red Cross did not use any pleas, it simply stated the action to be taken and relied on the viewers’ knowledge to understand the gravity of the matter and the impact that each individual donating $10 can have. Add to that the simple act of texting and you have a great example of impulse and emotional marketing.

Under normal conditions texting a donation is not the quickest way to put money into the hands of relief agencies. In the wake of a calamity such as the Haitian earthquake do you think utilizing text messaged donations is the best way to raise awareness or increase ease of participation?

• Donate to the American Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/
• Donate to the American Red Cross’ Haiti Relief & Development Fund: http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main&s_subsrc=RCO_ResponseStateSection

Photograph Credit:
Sabrina Segal