El Centro First KC Hispanic Nonprofit to Launch Mobile Fundraising

KANSAS CITY, MO--(Marketwired - Jun 5, 2014) - El Centro, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation committed to strengthening communities and improving the lives of Latinos and others through education, social and economic opportunities, is the first Hispanic nonprofit in Kansas City to launch mobile giving for its donors through a new platform, RAZ Mobile. Mobile-optimized websites for charities are favored by millennials and allow nonprofits to circumvent the wireless carriers' version of mobile fundraising, text-to-give.

According to Dale Knoop, CEO of RAZ Mobile, today, all three wireless carriers limit text-to-give fundraising to charities generating $500,000 or more in annual revenue and/or those involved in emergency crisis situations. Carriers also cap donations at $10 and it can take 90 to 120 days for charities to see the money donated to them. "We're seeing donations in the thousands on a regular basis on our platform and again, millennials don't want the added charges on their wireless bill or to be limited to just $10 donations," said Knoop.

Amber Hackett, director of resource development at El Centro, said, "Nonprofits suffer from the refusal of major text-to-give providers to work with many nonprofits. The Latino population has tremendous buying power and a strong inclination to give back to their community. El Centro can help thousands of potential Latino donors in the Kansas City metro area alone with RAZ Mobile. The impact will be infinite since every dollar we raise supports services to the Latino community."

According to a May 2013 survey from the Pew Internet & American Life project, Hispanics lead as Web users who are mobile-first, with three out of five Hispanic mobile users reporting that they mostly went online via their mobile phones. Knoop said, "Most nonprofits are seeing increased mobile traffic, but 84 percent of those have non-optimized donation pages for mobile phones. El Centro recognized this and decided to take action rather than continue to miss potential donors. By using RAZ Mobile, El Centro donors will have the ability to make gifts in 20 seconds or less on a phone, tablet or PC."

Hackett said, "El Centro wants to make giving as easy and convenient as possible. As people move toward increasing reliance on our mobile devices, we believe that they will want to conduct their philanthropic business on smartphones just like they conduct their personal financial business and some of their social interactions on them. RAZ Mobile has an innovative, user-friendly system for mobile giving that works with both mobile devices and desktop computers."

RAZ Mobile allows nonprofits engaged in fundraising to quickly create a branded, content-rich mobile optimized site for more effective supporter communications and increased fundraising opportunities. Every donation goes immediately to the nonprofit's existing merchant account and repeat donations can be made in seconds with a few taps on the donor's smartphone or tablet.