Slashdot Mirror
Carriers Delay Paying Japan's Texting Donations
Julie188 writes "As the fallout from the Japanese earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown tragedy continues to unfold, Americans want to help. We learned from the Haiti disaster that the easiest thing to do is to text a donation to our favorite relief organization. But, unlike Haiti, Japan's text-to-give donations will take as long as three months to get to the relief agency. And the company handling these donations, mGive.com, has not waived the transaction fees it charges relief agencies."
These companies profit from situations like this. This is their business case. What did you expect?
So we should text F' You! to mGive.com?
There is nothing more despicable than those who gain from tragedy.
Uhm, I thought the same thing happened for Haiti. Wasn't that why people on the news were advising against texting in donations?
Code softly but carry a big magnet.
Shouldn't surprise you, a corporation has no reason to be ethical in a relief situation. Everyone can point at everyone else in the corporation, and still all reap some nice profits.
Anonymous!
the easiest thing to do is to text a donation to our favorite relief organization
Why would any true geek text a donation? We're geeks. We want what's most EFFECTIVE, not what's easiest.
I wish there would be greater disclosure about this and many other things. It can take up to 3 months for the US, but some other countries such as Latin America and Asian countries not called China and Japan it can take up to 6 months. In the EU, some people don't have to pay their bill monthly, there are quarterly and bi-annual billing cycles. It's a shame, because if there was full disclosure many people would have donated via another method. Hopefully all this exposure will get them to declare this a "crisis" and get the funds moving immediately.
P.S. Please be careful when giving your child a cell phone, it's as easy to buy virtual goods with it as a credit card and companies like mine have no way of knowing that you have given it to your child. If you would like to block these types of purchases, contact your local wireless company and have them remove "Premium SMS" from your child's phone. I wish all wireless carriers were forced to disclose this whenever anyone purchases a "Family Plan".
donate via http://www.philathroper.com/
Donations are processed and distributed immediately.
the meetings are going well. there are even more meetings planned. the lunch was fit for kings. some terrific (if not new) stand-up was delivered. that's inside. what is that smell? is that babys, mommys? do they always smell like that? can't really see. are they all smoking?
Shouldn't you all be mighty proud? What's more capitalistic than benefiting from the suffering of others? They are the ultimate patriots. God bless them.
I've had a problem in the past with the Red Cross because they do not segregate donations to specific causes (or, at least, they haven't in the past). That means that if you make a donation to the Red Cross for the Japanese disaster, that doesn't mean that your money necessarily even goes to Japanese relief. And if there is any left over after their (often very limited) efforts, it goes back into their coffers--irrespective of how it was supposed to be earmarked.
My grandfather always used to tell me that he would die before he ever gave to the Red Cross. When he was in Korea, the Red Cross used to show up and sell soldiers coffee and donuts (at a profit, no less). No money meant no coffee and donuts for you, G.I.
I'm not disparaging their work (I don't know enough to comment on that). I'm just saying that they need to be much more upfront with people about where their money is actually going.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
"Note, too, that when you typically text a donation, the organization receiving it has to pay a transaction fee which may or may not be passed along to you on your bill. The mGive Foundation is a non-profit, that charges nothing to certify a charity to the carriers. The carriers forward 100% of the donation amount to the charitable organization. But both the carrier and the similarly named "mGive.com" may still charge a transaction fee. mGive.com is a for-profit arm of the company Mobile Accord. It runs the technology involved in taking text donations (and performing other mobile fundraising campaigns for non-profits). In addition to setup fees and monthly fees it charges a per transaction fee of $0.35 + 3.5 %."
So mGive Foundation - the one you'll probably find if you do an internet search, is a non-profit who will certify the charity and tell you that 100% of the donation goes to the cause, but mGive.com - a separate entity - is for profit and takes their cut off of the top, then forwarding the remaining "donation" to be sent along. Nice. I wonder which MBA thought that one up. Whoever he is, he's probably sitting on a beach somewhere safe, sipping a Mai Tai right now.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
First comment on on that site:
It is unfortunate that the petition – and the premise of this story – is based on misunderstanding.
The mGive Foundation has worked with its wireless carrier partners to implement solutions that will accelerate the transmittal of text donations; in some cases, wireless operators can remit donations in as little as 30 days. The misconception that our carrier partners are holding back any of these much-needed funds has, unfortunately, gone viral. We want to ensure that this misunderstanding is corrected, and does not hamper people’s willingness to give at a time when Japan needs it most.
Our wireless carrier partners are committed to enabling nonprofits with mobile technology, and have generously donated their networks, business support, technical resources, and in many cases messaging fees to support these campaigns. When donors text in a donation, they are pledging to pay this donation when they receive their monthly bill from their wireless carrier. Upon remittance, the carrier in turn forwards those dollars to us, and we then pass 100 percent of the money raised to our nonprofit partners.
Likewise, our nonprofit partners have dedicated their resources to Japan Tsunami Relief efforts and, to date, the outpouring of generosity and support from Americans has been tremendous. These organizations are led by skilled professionals who are experienced in dealing with large-scale disasters, and have the insight to know when to request accelerated payments from wireless carriers, as they did in the case of Haiti. To date no such request has been made, but that in no way diminishes the devastation in Japan.
Together, our nonprofit and carrier partners are harnessing the power of mobile giving to ensure that Japanese citizens receive – unequivocally and in as timely a manner as possible – all the funds that Americans have given so generously to date. It would be a shame for misinformation perpetuated by stories like this to hamper these efforts.
Jenifer Snyder
Executive Director
The mGive Foundation
Btw, Americans want to help? You're not the only ones on the world you know. Yes yes, it's an American article, but you could have changed the text in the headline at least.
Lo and behold, for I am a sig!
So who is behind mgive.com? Isn't this the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the power of the Internet to do what it excels at? Namely, going viral on some punks?
The day the Tsunami hit I scampered out the door to give a pint of blood. Later that day I thought of putting a item on an eBay auction to raise some fundage for American Red Cross. Ebay listing page allowed me to pick a charity and a percentage to go there. Wonderful. The listing was published and had a big banner about the Red Cross added to it.
After the auction ended the trouble began. The buyer paid and I found the money sitting in my PayPal account, with their customary cut removed from it. WTF?!? I drop a note to PayPal that this must be some sort of error, the money should have gone straight to American Red Cross. No reply, typical.
Then I get on the online support with someone and tell them about it and ask them to send the answer to my email (the one I provided) and again I get nothing. Bother.
Finally over the weekend I spend 2.5 hours waiting through the queue for help by apparently the only on-line customer support person they had working (this smells like the business model: we have few complaints to our customer support so satisfaction must be nearly 100%, but I digress) It is finally explained to me that I had to set up a Mission Fish account first so the payment would have been routed to them. Excuse me? You let me list an item where 100% was to go to a registered charity, but didn't establish a precondition of publishing the listing that the Mission Fish account be set up first, while the charity logo and mission are splashed all over a listing - yet the payment for it can completely bypass the charity? Hello, this looks like enabling Donor Fraud.
I finally have had enough of their stupidity and go over to American Red Cross website and donate directly, including the sum I received for the auctioned item. I'm beside myself with the stupidity of corporations, but with eBay this is nothing new. Since 1999 they've gone from good to bad to worse.
Be wary of donating via eBay. No guarantee the funds you pay do go where you think.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
It never goes to the intended need anyways. If it is not lining someone's pocket it gets slapped with administrative costs, etc.
Charity has to be the next biggest scam to organized religion.
I like the typo in the link. That's exactly how profiteers work -- by praying on the unwary. By the way, you can also paypal donations to Docsavage64109@gmail.com
Calling someone that body part is insulting to a whole class of people. Call them dicks instead! Problem solved.
Your link and your subject header don't match. I assume you meant this? :)
Don't let it bother you though, you appear to be in good company: Google results
Any plan which depends on a fundamental change in human behavior is doomed from the start.
*that should probably be preying on the unwary. oh well.
That's http://www.philanthroper.com/
3 Months is enough time to put all the donation money in a CD and earn interest on it, before passing the principle on to the charity.
Japan is a rich, technologically advanced, first-world country. I feel very bad for the people who have been affected by the recent events there, it's truly awful... but there are so many poor countries with horrible conditions, lack of food, basic human rights... who need money much more than Japan. ALL THE TIME.
If you really want to help Japan, go there and start digging through the mess and help them rebuild. If you want to donate money, donate to someone who actually needs money. Or donate in general to the Red Cross or other groups, without earmarking your money for Japan where it will sit for months or more, while thousands of people die of starvation in other parts of the world, maybe even in your own damn country.
http://www.matchinggifts.com/redcross/
the money was just resting in my account.
Nahh, I'm pretty sure this is well covered in the Rules of Aquisition, and everyone know female farengi can't do business.
Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
The Red Cross sold coffee and donuts instead of giving them away to military personnel during World War II.
This unfortunate policy came into being because service agencies in Britain helping British military personnel were less well-financed than the American Red Cross. Thus, these agencies were forced to charge British military members for the same items that American service members were getting free from the American Red Cross.
To avoid further embarrassment to the British, who were playing host to thousands of U.S. troops, the U.S. Secretary of War requested that the American Red Cross begin charging American service members for such items as coffee and donuts in its canteens. The Red Cross interpreted this request as a wartime demand and complied so that it could continue aiding U.S. troops. However, the Red Cross sold items at or below cost and never profited a penny from these sales.
Since the end of World War II, the American Red Cross has not charged military personnel -- not in the Korean, Vietnam, or Persian Gulf conflicts, for example.
-- http://www.redcross.org
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
The best way to stop this nonsense is to make it a huge story. Twitter it, facebook it, whatever... post it everywhere. The media doesn't care unless they think the people do. So make it go viral so the worthless people we call "the press" cover it... then all the companies involved will look like idiots and may fix it.
No, what the internet excels at is spreading of myths and FUD by people who can't be bothered to get the basic facts straight before 'going viral on some punks'. This is a nice example of that. Read the post above yours.
I wouldn't say that about all charities. I work at a large non-profit daycare / before & after school program / family services that was started by two nuns, and granted the majority of money goes to staff and facilities, the staff and facilities are what benefit the children, families, and employees all at the same time. I think the difference is that we're all paid very poorly and nobody is getting rich off the system over here -- even our CEO (The nuns now hold honorary and speaking roles as they are in their late 60s+) just drives a Nissan Altima.
Although they are a 501c3, a "non-profit" like mGive are allowed to pay their staff and directors huge salaries, fees, and expenses. The non-profit entity itself does not "make money". And the mGive Exec. Director is shrewd: "..we then pass 100 percent of the money raised to our nonprofit partners". But he doesn't say: and then we immediately send the "partner" an invoice for our expenses.
"i'm a philan....philan....phil-on rapist" - charlie kelly
There ought to be a charity where you can text donations that will be applied to hiring a hit man to locate and severely hurt (the Bible says "thou shalt not kill"...) people who do shit like that.
to any Feds in the audience, I'm only cynically kidding, I'm not threat to the government like that Assange fellow...
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Donations sent to the Twitter user "ReallyNotAScam" are taking forever to get to their intended recipient, Japanese aid victims. Hmm, go figure. www.redcross.org didn't seem like a safe place to send my donation so I texted it to a 900 #.
Maybe their lives should be put in a place similar to that of the Japanese people who are living through this nightmare.
Geek FAIL It is Ferengi
There Can Be Only One...
Same thing happens when you purchase something with a debt card, write a check.
They will put a hold on the item, keeping that money in their "account" for a few days
to draw some quick interest, then release it.
The article summary cited Haiti relief as an example of how quickly money should be routed to the people affected by disaster. I am posting about this anonymously because I was centrally involved in the Haiti relief effort. I was on 3x daily conference calls with the Red Cross, US State Department, UN Logistics Cluster, and others from the moment the earthquake hit until about 2 months afterward. To say it was a clusterf(*&k would be an understatement.
Yes, when a disaster hits, it is by definition a clusterf(*&k. Infrastructure, communications, law & order...it all goes out the window. But you expect that. What you do not expect is the sheer incompetence of the people at these supposedly vaunted, elite organizations. They're exclusively staffed by former art history and english majors with no qualifications except a kindly uncle or wealthy father who got them the job there. OK, you expect that in government and big business. But for places like the Red Cross and UN Logistics Cluster and State Department, whose very raison d'etre is to understand how to handle logistics and manage disasters, it represents a shocking dereliction of duty to not staff experienced logistics engineers and others who know how to DO things.
In sum, the Red Cross and their ilk do not know how to get stuff (ie. food, water, medicine) to disaster areas and distribute it effectively. They do not know how to take donations of money and materiel and do effective things with it. Most of the materiel that was donated for Haiti took 6 months to actually get there because none of the geniuses at those agencies realized you have to get things through customs here, and then figure out how to unload ships there when there's nobody left working the ports. There were parcels and parcels of food dumped at the airport in Port-au-Prince that spoiled in the sun and humidity because nobody knew how to get it from the airport into the city to distribute it. Nobody could have imagined or anticipated that the roads would be blocked in the aftermath of an earthquake, or that there wouldn't be fully functional gas stations ready to refuel the fleet of trucks necessary to cart tons of supplies around a population center. Yes, it was clearly the first time anybody at the Red Cross, UN Logistics Cluster, or State Department had ever seen anything like it.
And the money, you ask? Well, most of it, even now, hasn't been spent and the people of Haiti haven't seen a dime. So the little kids there have gone back to eating mudpies.
Japan? Nah, when I saw and heard how they were responding to the crisis, I said to myself thank god they don't have to rely on the Red Cross, the UN, or anyone else. The Japanese know what they're doing. They'll get it done.
Never underestimate the bandwidth of a 747 full of $100 bills...
> I've had a problem in the past with the Red Cross because they do not segregate donations to specific causes (or, at least, they haven't in the past). That means that if you make a donation to the Red Cross for the Japanese disaster, that doesn't mean that your money necessarily even goes to Japanese relief.
How is that a bad thing? If the work in Japan gets finished and they have money left over, why shouldn't they use it to help with the next disaster? Segregation just doesn't seem like a good idea. I mean, they have to have stuff prepared ahead of time. They can't just run out and buy up all sorts of supplies the day of a disaster. If they didn't do this, they would be unable to help.
I'm just having a hard time seeing why people would be like, "Well, screw you Japan, I only wanted to give money to Haiti!" Isn't the point of this that we're all in this together and the people of the world should help each other out?
I wanted to donate through them because I have gift card money deposited in my account. However, their donation system didn't support deposited gift card money. I don't have or use credit cards online.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
His name is "TrentTheThief"....
"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
Sending a Cheque?
granted texting to send money is "instant feel good" for you but it seems that it takes longer for your donation to actually do good.
The job of an Accountant or Controller is to maximize cash flow. That means taking in cash as early as possible, and paying out anything as late as possible without incurring late charges. In a for profit business this is normal. I advise giving to a reputable charity instead even if it is harder.
Really, should we be surprised that someone is trying to cash in on human pain and suffering?
it's how they make money. They provide the service during disaster. Or in this case, the really crappy service.
I went the pure capitalist route: waited qa few days until some one was selling something I want and giving the entire proceeds to Japan relief.
I bought the Japan relief pack for Team Fortress 2.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Your donations are reimbursing the responders to the disaster for the expenses of the current event.
An orginization like the Red Cross (logically, I don't have detailed/inside info) is prepared for disaster to strike, with shipping containers of non-pershable food, blankets, medical supplies, etc.
Those supplies are sent to, and distributed in the affected areas; but now they have a bunch of empty containers to fill for the next disaster... that's what money donated now is for.
If they waited for money to be donated after the disaster, they wouldn't have a very quick response; plus, right now their people are busy in the actual response; all the officework related to funding/supply aquistion should be lower in priority to getting their current stock of supplies to the site, and distributed to the needy.
There plenty of help now at the beginning. But when the word loses attention in a while, the cash slows down.
If Julian Assange had exposed this sort of unsavoury conduct he would be closer to his originally stated ideals, and nobody would care about his indiscretions.
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html is the English-language donations page. That gets contributions to the Japanese people who need it the most in the shortest amount of time.
There is nothing wrong with yr Internet. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling the transmission - NSA
Well, hell.
Yes, I meant http://www.philanthroper.com/
The first link doesn't resolve to anything.
The second link hits the right page (http://www.philanthroper.com).
They really just don't understand things like right and wrong, they just think about themselves, and only themselves.
If Microsoft wants to use their massive wealth for the benefit of the Japanese people they can just give some of that wealth to an aid organization. Instead they try to get Americans to give their wealth to them for redirection. I guess nobody wants to invest in a company that just gives money away? Really?
Zhu Ying bibliothèque mondiale rapports Wide Web de nouvelles, selon Yonhap a rapporté Mars 27 cette année, Février 5 sur la dérive de l'Occident et le 31 les eaux nord-coréen, 27 pêcheurs ont été l'après-midi du 27 Mars retour à la Corée du Nord dans l'Ouest, shoes mbt . A indiqué que 27 personnes le jour 0:55 Ping Xu Yan dans la mer de l'Ouest près de la limite nord de l'île (NLL) prennent leur capacité de 5 tonnes voyageant vers le sud quand il a quitté la Corée du Nord pour les navires de pêche en bois. Leur Février au sud de la 5, la première fois en 50 jours pour retourner la Corée du Nord, mbt sale . Il est rapporté que 27 personnes le jour 8:09 Xu au Commandement Incheon mer défense du terminal prendre la recherche de deux sud-coréen des dispositions de la marine des navires partant pour Yin Ping Island, près de la mer, puis 27, puis prendre leur bateau a franchi la NLL aux eaux RPDC. A cette époque, la Corée du Nord a été soupçonné d'être un navire de guerre pour répondre aux résidents nord-coréens dans les environs de la NLL, mbt shoes uk .