A Short Message Service (SMS) based fundraising product, M-Changa, is set to change the method groups or individuals use to raise or contribute money to various causes or kitties.
The product, which was launched last Thursday, allows individuals to initiate fund-raising campaigns for weddings, funerals, and school fees, among other causes, through basic handsets.
You can send a text message to 2231 to register as a user at no fee. But subscibers will be charged for other transactions such as withdrawals.
The product is owned by MobiChanga Ltd, a content provider and does not require the user to have Internet connectivity as it uses the GSM network. One can get Web links for posting on social media networks such as twitter and Facebook.
MobiChanga Chief executive officer, Kyai Mullei, said the product enables fundraisers to be more efficient and transparent as it can track and get printouts of all payments and withdrawals.
“M-Changa allows you to initiate fundraising campaigns and send customised messages via mobile phone to as many contributors as you like and as often as you like. It is the ultimate “reach out tool” allowing fundraising campaigns to be extended to social networks such as Facebook and Twitter,” said Mr Mullei.
“M-Changa also has security benefits such as adding multiple treasurers to the team that makes it impossible to withdraw money without approvals (this is especially important for large fund raising projects).”
The service is currently available to Safaricom and Airtel subscribers but Mr Mullei said that they are in talks with the other two operators Essar’s Yu and Telkom Kenya’s Orange to enable their subscribers utilise the product.
While registration for the services is free, users will be required to pay for a withdrawal which is Sh20 on top of the current fees charged by the two operators. Those who would like to get web features will pay Sh40 per link and Sh2 for any reminder message, with the costs borne by the person who initiates the campaign.
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