Nelson Mandela’s charitable organisations have launched an international SMS service to allow millions of people to donate money by texting a 90th birthday message to the former South African president.
Premium SMS codes have been set up in more than 20 countries around the world, including the US, UK, South Africa, Australia, Spain, Germany and many African nations. People will be able to text their own message to their country-specific short code and will then receive a thank you message with a unique pin number, allowing them to view the message securely online at a specially created birthday site. The site will also contain a raft of celebrity messages both written and filmed by Mandela supporters around the world. In the UK texts cost £1.50 plus the standard network rate.
All profits received from text charges will go to the Nelson Mandela Legacy Trust and other charitable organisations supported by Mandela. Tim Massey, 46664 international director, said: “A text-based service allows more people to feel part of the celebrations in a very simple way and we hope to raise significant revenues to support the ongoing work of the charities that bear Mr Mandela’s name and 46664.” We wish 46664 every success with this ground breaking initiative.
