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Social Justice > Published by Will Straw, April 14th 2011 at 6:17 pm

Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations

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Update 1530hrs 15/04/11

Everything Everywhere have announced that they’re suspending the top slicing of charitable text donations.

The Times today highlights (£) the outrageous actions of Orange and T-Mobile which continue to cream off charitable donations made by text message, as highlighted by Left Foot Forward last month. A campaign is now underway to get Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd MP to take action.

Orange and T-Mobile are now alone among mobile operators in charging charities for text donations. Since this blog last covered the story, Virgin and Three have both changed their practice to pass on 100% of text donations to charities.

Greed-everywhere
The recently merged mobile giant, renamed ‘Everything Everywhere’, is expected to have a 37 per cent market share. Given that text donations are expected to be worth £96m per year by 2014, it means that Orange and T-Mobile will make annual profits of £3.5m by top slicing 10% of donations.

A letter to Nick Hurd MP, seen by Left Foot Forward, from leading charity CEOs including Bruce Leeke, Acting CEO of Institute of Fundraising, and Thomas Hughes-Hallett, Chief Executive of Marie Curie Cancer Care and Chair of the Philanthropy Review, says:

“While O2, Vodafone, 3 and now Virgin are committed to passing on 100% of text donations to charities. Orange and T-Mobile (Everything Everywhere) are the only remaining mobile operator not to do this.

“We consider this to be an impediment to effective fundraising via mobile text giving and I am now writing to ask whether you could please raise this with Everything Everywhere and urge them to join the other mobile operators in offering 100% of text donations direct to charities.”

According to The Times (£):

[Nick Hurd] emphasised that both Orange and T-Mobile were doing positive work in other areas, including their “Apps for Good”. He added: “I urge them to take this opportunity to show their commitment in this way as well.”

The Institute of Fundraising are urging people to email Steven Day, vice president of brand and communications at Everything Everywhere.

  • http://twitter.com/lilyjcarter/status/58580767768449024 Lily Carter

    RT @leftfootfwd: Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations http://bit.ly/gOhp4M reports @wdjstraw

  • http://twitter.com/badgerbrocks/status/58581279796510721 bryan

    RT @leftfootfwd: Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations http://bit.ly/gOhp4M reports @wdjstraw

  • http://twitter.com/adpucci/status/58595982648156160 Pucci Dellanno

    RT @leftfootfwd: Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations http://bit.ly/gOhp4M reports @wdjstraw

  • http://twitter.com/oldmankelv/status/58598948918657024 Kelvin John Edge

    RT @leftfootfwd: Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations http://bit.ly/gOhp4M reports @wdjstraw

  • http://twitter.com/klousummerside/status/58610731683291136 Kate Summerside

    RT @leftfootfwd: Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations http://bit.ly/gOhp4M reports @wdjstraw

  • http://twitter.com/dealneil/status/58634664675516416 Neil Gardner

    RT @leftfootfwd: Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations http://bit.ly/gOhp4M reports @wdjstraw

  • http://twitter.com/redbuttongirl/status/58644995938336768 Carmen

    RT @leftfootfwd: Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations http://bit.ly/gOhp4M reports @wdjstraw

  • http://twitter.com/extraditiongame/status/58660311724597248 Extradition Game

    RT @leftfootfwd: Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations http://bit.ly/gOhp4M reports @wdjstraw

  • http://twitter.com/hitchinengland/status/58756104720625664 Hitchin England

    RT @leftfootfwd: Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations http://bit.ly/gOhp4M reports @wdjstraw

  • http://twitter.com/soka1605/status/58757837869957120 sophiakarakeva

    Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations (http://tinyurl.com/6atqknx)

  • http://twitter.com/wdjstraw/status/58789837007896577 Will Straw

    When will Orange & T-Mobile stop top slicing charitable text donations? http://bit.ly/gOhp4M

  • http://twitter.com/ipaystation/status/58790189534949376 iPayStation

    Orange and T-Mobile alone in top slicing charitable text donations! http://t.co/L63QhD9

  • http://twitter.com/chris_goulden/status/58794442894737408 Chris Goulden

    RT @wdjstraw When will Orange & T-Mobile stop top slicing charitable text donations? http://bit.ly/gOhp4M

  • http://twitter.com/davetomhodges/status/58796484921016320 David Hodges

    RT @wdjstraw: When will Orange & T-Mobile stop top slicing charitable text donations? http://bit.ly/gOhp4M

  • http://twitter.com/notlob2008/status/58800921991327744 notlob

    RT @wdjstraw: When will Orange & T-Mobile stop top slicing charitable text donations? http://bit.ly/gOhp4M

  • http://twitter.com/thewriteguyuk/status/58822469854830592 Matthew Connaughton

    I actually like their service, but THIS is very disappointing from #Orange… http://bit.ly/dRixZw #greedy #charity #CSR Thought them nicer!

  • http://twitter.com/brionygunson/status/58822894494552064 Briony Gunson

    RT @TheWriteGuyUK: I actually like their service, but THIS is very disappointing from #Orange… http://bit.ly/dRixZw #greedy #charity # …

  • Robin O’Kelly

    This story has been misreported and misunderstood. Everything Everywhere (where I work) passes on 100% of all donations, including any costs incurred, to all the main text-to-donate users. For some other charities we have passed on costs incurred (around £9,000 in the past 12 months – relative to £7m raised). More importantly we’re working on a Gift Aid solution for text to donate and while this is happening we will absorb all costs for all charities – and will probably make this permanent. For the record, the cost of donating by text is around 10% (third parties/banks/bad debt). If you give online through justgiving.com the charity is charged 5%. If you give in the street its something like 30%. We absorbed around £700k of costs last year and were very happy to do so in supporting our partner charities, such as Comic Relief, Children in Need and Unicef.

  • Irony

    It’s ironic because no major charity that I know of forwards 100% of donations to the cause. People donate to the charity, not to the cause. A lot of the time the money sits in the charity’s bank account for many months/years.

  • http://www.timworstall.com Tim Worstall

    “that Orange and T-Mobile will make annual profits of £3.5m”

    No, Repeat after me. Revenues are not profits, revenues are not profits….

  • http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/t-mobile-and-orange-play-down-charity-costs-jibes-26831 T-Mobile And Orange Play Down Charity Costs Jibes | eWEEK Europe UK

    [...] director of corporate communications at Everything Everywhere, responded to an article on Left Foot Forward’s Website: “ Everything Everywhere passes on 100 percent of all donations, including any costs incurred, [...]

  • tony

    I run a charity and am a customer to both parties, may need to look elsewhere if there doing the legal stealing stuff. greedy bastards