The MMA has released its latest “Consumer Briefing” report into mobile donations in the UK, French and German markets.

The report shows that in some countries, mobile is already the most popular way for people to donate to a charity.

Following the Haitian Earthquake, it was widely reported that Mobile had played an important role in raising the required money for the relief efforts. This MMA study puts some solid numbers behind these reports, showing that in Europe that 21.4% of donors made their pledges via SMS and 7% by visiting a charitable website from their mobile device.

This means that a total of 28.4% of those who gave money to the Haitian appeal did so via their mobile device, which shows how important a medium mobile has become in order to allow people to help victims and charities.

The figures vary slightly from country to country, with French people emerging as the most likely to use their mobile device for charitable donations with 30% of all donors choosing to do so via SMS. Germany came second with 26% of all donors using SMS as their medium of choice to donate to the appeal.

However, when you add in those who donated through a website from their mobile handset, mobile emerged as the most popular way of donating for in both countries.

The UK was lagging behind with only 9% of donors using SMS and 8.6% visiting a website from their mobile device. However UK consumers described themselves as the most likely to donate by mobile in the future, with 19% stating that they were likely or very likely to do so, followed by the French with 16% and the Germans with 11%.

“Humanitarian disasters demand immediate response, and the donating public appears to recognize the effectiveness of texting and using mobile generally as a way to help those in need, when they need it,” said Dr. Peter A. Johnson, VP of Market Intelligence for the MMA

The report also provided some interesting insight into which practices would encourage greater rates of donations via the mobile device. It found the following key points would help:

• Guaranteeing that mobile numbers would not be retained or contacted again
• Making it clear how much of the donation actually went to the charity
• Not fixing the amount that a consumer is able to contribute so that they can decide how much they want to give.

To read the full Press Release please click HERE