A new study of mobile giving shows some interesting results about people's adaptation of texting their charitable donations. The Pew Internet Project, in partnership with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the mGive Foundation surveyed 863 individuals who contributed money to the 2010 Haiti earthquake efforts using the text messaging feature on their cell phones.

For three-quarters of them, their contribution to earthquake relief was a quick decision in response to images they saw on television without doing much background research – i.e. an impulsive response. What's telling is that these same donors have not spent much time since then following reconstruction efforts.

Three-quarters of those surveyed said their donations to Haiti earthquake relief efforts represent the first time they had ever made a text-based donation – i.e. a novel behavior.

Mobile givers are younger and more racially and ethnically diverse when compared with those who contribute through more traditional means.

More than half of the donors surveyed have made text message contributions to other disaster relief efforts since their Haiti donations. Less than half encouraged their friends and networks to make a donation, with 76% saying their influence worked. i.e quite typical behavior for Millennials.

The big question will be… Is this a short-lived trend, or does mobile giving have enough traction to stick around? What do you think?

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