Last updated April 12, 2019
The Mitt Romney presidential campaign has now joined that of Barrack Obama’s in accepting donations via text messages in the final few weeks of the US election. The campaign for Republican nominee Mitt Romney made the announcement on Friday and it will begin this week, following the launch of the Democratic text message donation campaign the week before.
The spontaneous use of text message fundraising via new and old cell phones has proved a success when it comes to disaster relief and a number of other charity campaigns, and many believed that texted political donations could turn out to be a very lucrative resource in the lead up to the election in November. Fundraisers and campaign finance reform advocates have been touting texted donations as a way of empowering small donors in an era of donations of up to six figures being handed over by outside groups.
“We recognize that people lead busy lives,” says the digital director of the Romney campaign, Zac Moffatt. “This technology gives our incredible supporters the ability to make a donation in seconds, not minutes, with a text message.”
Text donations were approved three months ago back in early June and although they can be made anonymously, they have to be capped at $50 per month or a maximum of $200 for one campaign or candidate. Corporations, foreigners and those aged less than 18 years are prohibited from making text donations.