The Jimmie Johnson Foundation recently tapped mobile giving to raise $10,000 at the Sprint-sponsored annual charity golf tournament dinner on Oct. 5 at The Grand Del Mar Resort in San Diego.

The foundation tapped Txtstation to power the SMS initiative. Guests were given the opportunity to pledge donations via their mobile phones by texting the  amount plus a personal message to a short code.

“The Jimmie Johnson Foundation partnered with us to let people text in, tell them why they want to help and what their donation is, then give their credit card details outside the conference to raise money for a good foundation,” said Michael Falato, vice president of sales and business development at Txtstation, Austin, TX.

“The foundation was trying to increase their interactivity and add entertainment value to the event, which featured a silent auction and a live auction,” he said. “They incorporated a mobile element into everything they were doing that night to drive donations and engage their base.

“Sprint was one of the main sponsors of the event.”

Chandra and Jimmie Johnson launched the Jimmie Johnson Foundation in February 2006.

Mr. Johnson, the four-time reigning Sprint Cup champion, drives the No. 48 Lowe’s Impala in NASCAR’s top series.

The mission of the foundation is to assist children, families and communities in need throughout the United States.

The foundation has committed more than $3.5 million to various charities.

Txtstation is a mobile marketing company specializing in sports and entertainment.

Txtstation creates one-to-one real-time dialog with consumers at specific times and places such as events, concerts and live or pre-recorded broadcasts.

Mobile giving
The call-to-action “Text your donation amount followed by your message to 37048” appeared on two large screens at the Grand Del Mar Hotel.

After guests texted in to the short code, appropriate text messages were then displayed in real-time on two large screens during the dinner portion of the event.

Guests were entertained with the personal messages scrolling on screen and the text-to-screen feature generated additional donations for the event.

The Jimmie Johnson Foundation was looking for an additional way to engage its guests and increase their interactivity.

Txtstation’s real-time graphics and mobile platform enabled the foundation to entertain them in a new way while driving donations via credit and debit cards.

“This was the Jimmie Johnson Foundation’s first use of mobile,” Mr. Falato said. “They were able to get people to text in and they generated approximately $10,000 via mobile pledges in one night.

“That led to the Waltrip brothers to use it, and they extended it two weeks beyond the golf tournament, which raised $525,000 overall, beating the foundation’s previous record,” he said.