Corinne Ramey, MobileActive.org

The numbers speak for themselves: There are currently 236 million cell phone users in the U.S. – an astounding 76% of the population. In December of last year alone, 18.7 billion text messages were sent — up 92% from 9.7 billion in December 2005. Estimates for this year are topping 195 billion text messages sent in 2007. That is 600 million text messages a day.

Nonprofits and advocacy organizations around the world are increasingly turning to mobile phones for advocating for issues and engaging constituents, for providing services, and even for fundraising.

Katrin Verclas, CalderStrategies.com and MobileActive.org

There is increasing evidence that mobile social marketing works in increasing awareness and moving people to actions. It is also becoming an effective way to engage users and constituents. Throughout our experience with mobile campaigns, we've run into some great campaigns and some failures as well.

Here are the top ten things that nonprofits should and shouldn't do when running a mobile campaign.

Michael Sabat, Mobile Commons

Your organization needs to understand how to send different messages to different people through different channels. It would never have made sense to run a TV commercial over the radio trying to reach a newspaper reader, just as it doesn't make sense trying to get an instant response from business people by messaging through your org's MySpace page. Getting the mix correct means you send the right message, through the right channel, reaching the right people to accomplish your goal.

So, how should mobile fit in your mix with regard to the messages, the people, and the goals involved?

Corinne Ramey, MobileActive.org

NARAL Pro-Choice America recently began a mobile program -- they're calling it Txt4Choice -- and has been exploring how to use mobile in ways that compliment and integrate into their already developed communications strategy.

Curious how your state ranks on reproductive choice? NARAL makes it easy to find out. By texting the word "grade" and the abbreviation of your state to a short code, you get an almost-instantaneous text response with your state's grade and opportunities for more information.

Katrin Verclas and Corinne Ramey, MobileActive.org (with Michael Stein)

Mobiles are becoming increasingly intertwined in Americans' daily lives: 75% of Americans have their mobile phones on and within reach during waking hours, and 59% wouldn't lend their mobile to a friend for a day. Fifteen percent of survey respondents even said they've answered their mobile phone during sex.

The mobile landscape truly is primed for NGOs. Nonprofits can tap into the power of mobiles and learn from many of the mobile marketing techniques that are already being used in the commercial sector.

The first major U.S. fundraising effort via SMS/text messaging garnered over $10,000 from a 10 second commercial spot. While text message fundraising is now common outside the U.S., and has made brief appearances during natural disasters inside the States, this initiative by the United Way of America and its partners was the first to offer this new avenue of contribution for donors to give to everyday causes.

Even with the success, there were many things United Way learned from the project.

Mobile phones aren’t just for calls anymore. Text messaging and web-enabled phones have made it possible for individuals to donate via their cell phone. Join NTEN and a panel of experts on Thursday, March 6th for the webinar, "mFundraising: Fundraising on Mobile Phones". As presenter Katrin Verclas puts it, "This is going to be big!"

We here at NTEN spend a lot of time thinking about how nonprofits can use mobile phones in their work. Why? Because we believe that mobile phones are game changers, with the ability to shift -- fundamentally shift -- the way we communicate. Mobile phones are powerful tools in your media arsenal. No one has said it as eloquently as Alan Moore.

Robin Good just republished his essay, Mobile as the 7th Mass Media (part one is available here, part two is available here). In a word, this paper is delicious. It's a concise, smart, and at times funny take on the history of media. Each iteration receives a short history, with concrete lessons learned. Then, Robin tackles mobile phones as the next wave of media, applying everything he has just covered.

If your organization is thinking about starting, or is currently running, a mobile campaign of any sort, you need to read this paper. If your boss remains unconvinced, text her the URL.

Some highlights: 

MobileActive Guide #2 Released

NTEN and MobileActive.org are announcing the second MobileActive Guide, profiling strategies and civil society organizations using mobile phones in their work to make the world a better place. The second MobileActive Guide focuses on using mobile phones in issue advocacy. The guide features case studies from around the world, strategies for using mobile phones in advocacy work, and a how-to section for advocacy organizations considering using mobile phones to advance their causes.

Download the MobileActive Guide #2 here.

Have you ever wondered how cell phones could fit into your organization's communications strategy? A good way for you to learn more about this is by reading the Carnival of the Mobilists, a weekly roundup of the best stories on the web about all things mobile. In this week's edition, there are a couple of great examples of ways that nonprofits are using cell phones to advance their