Fundraising by text message has long been considered a missed opportunity for charities, because mobile phone usage is so ubiquitous nowadays. Latest figures from the Mobile Data Association shows that Brits send more than one billion texts every week, with volumes growing by 40 per cent year-on-year. Professional Fundraising reports.

But there are several problems preventing UK charities from making greater use of SMS to raise money, not least of which is the fact that the mobile phone companies and the Treasury take a large chunk of each donation. VAT and operator commission can amount to 55p ($1) on a £1.50 gift ($3), making the cost of offering this service to donors prohibitively high, especially for small charities.

... Last December, the debate was temporarily revived when Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten lodged an early day motion calling on the Chancellor to abolish VAT on text message donations, but after attracting 57 signatures, this too appears to have stalled."

Source: http://www.textually.org/