science

Mobile donating

Mobile donating is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mobile donating rather than just read about it. In short: Mobile donating refers to donating (to an organization) using a mobile device, primarily via an SMS or a phone call. Mobile donating process Premium SMS donations: Text messaging, or SMS, is the primary means of mobile donating.

Key takeaways

Mobile donating belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mobile donating to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mobile donating from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mobile donating refers to donating (to an organization) using a mobile device, primarily via an SMS or a phone call.

Mobile donating process Premium SMS donations: Text messaging, or SMS, is the primary means of mobile donating. Mobile phone users can make donations by texting a keyword to a specific SMS short code. Keywords are determined by the fundraising organization, and usually pertain to the organization's cause or purpose. Donation amounts are predetermined, commonly at $5 or $10, and users often have a limit of how many micro-donations they can send via SMS to a single campaign in one month. After donating, users receive a confirmation text message and the donation amount is added to their monthly phone bill. Donations can take up to 90 days to be processed. WAP donations: Mobile donating can also take place through a mobile WAP website. Cell phone users can access WAP donation pages by sending a specific text message to a designated keyword and receiving a link to the page in response, or by navigating to the page from a referring site. Upon reaching the WAP donation page, users are prompted to enter their cell phone numbers. Donations are confirmed with a text message sent to the donor's mobile phone, and the donation is added to the donor's monthly phone bill.

Mobile fundraising campaigns In the 2008 Text 2HELP campaign, the American Red Cross, in collaboration with the Wireless Foundation, raised over US$190,000 through 38,091 text messages to provide relief for victims of natural disasters such as Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike. In South Africa, Nelson Mandela's charity raised $85,000 USD in July 2008 with the cooperation of Zain, a South African mobile operator, using Mandela's 90th birthday as the 'call to give'; donors from around the world could send a birthday wish and make a donation at the same time. In support of relief efforts for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the American Red Cross raised over $32 million within one month after the disaster via SMS donations.

Drawbacks Despite its convenience, charity watchdog group the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP) has warned of some disadvantages to mobile donation, including concerns that service providers may charge fees or take a cut of the donations. AIP also noted that it can take as long as 120 days for a charity to actually receive a text donation, and that wireless carriers may limit the number of times per month a user can donate via text. According to the watchdog group, a charity "will generally receive your donation faster if you mail a check or donate directly to the charity online using its secure web site". Scammers may also take advantage of natural disasters by posing as legitimate charities.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mobile donating

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mobile donating claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mobile donating before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mobile donating ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mobile donating

In research: Mobile donating appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mobile donating in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mobile donating is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Donation, Telecommunication services, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mobile donating outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mobile donating in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mobile donating means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mobile donating out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mobile donating in simple terms?

Mobile donating refers to donating (to an organization) using a mobile device, primarily via an SMS or a phone call. Mobile donating process Premium SMS donations: Text messaging, or SMS, is the primary means of mobile donating.

Why does Mobile donating matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mobile donating?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mobile donating.