GB2373361A

GB2373361A - System and method of raising monies for charity via sms

Info

Publication number: GB2373361A
Application number: GB0106435A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew John Watt
Original assignee: XERCOM COMP SERVICES Ltd
Current assignee: XERCOM COMP SERVICES Ltd
Priority date: 2001-03-15
Filing date: 2001-03-15
Publication date: 2002-09-18
Also published as: GB0106435D0

Abstract

A system and method of raising monies for charitable organisations using the SMS service provided by mobile phone operators. Registered customers 100 will be charged a fee for entry into a fundraising event, a percentage of which will be donated to the charitable organisation of their choice 182. The system 180 will operate as a sweepstake whereby any winner of a fundraising event will receive a bonus prize in cash to encourage participation in future events. The result of a fundraising event is derived from an external event/activity where the operator has no control over outcome e.g. horse racing, lottery bonus ball, etc. instead of a mobile phone 101, a personal computer 102 can be used.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD OF RAISING MONIES FOR CHARITY VIA SMS This invention relates to a system and method of raising monies for charity using the SMS facility provided by mobile phone network operators.

Typically, charitable organisations rely on donations from the public in order to fund their cause. Encouraging the public to donate can be an expensive process involving such things as TV advertising, printing and delivery of documentation, and other resource intensive activity. The growing use of the SMS service available on mobile phone networks is a low cost method of reaching individuals directly, and could be used to encourage donations by providing a personal financial incentive to participate in sweepstake type events, which will raise funds for charity.

According to the present invention there is provided a system to raise funds for charitable organisations using the Short Message Service (SMS) of mobile phone network operators, comprising the processes capable of : Receiving, actioning, and issuing SMS instructions between itself and mobile phone users; Managing a fundraising event; Issuing participants with IDs corresponding to an ID in a fundraising event; Identifying, informing, and crediting the accounts of the customers who participated in a fundraising event, and who were issued with an ID matching the winning ID of that event.

The system is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows an overview of the system; Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the method of registering customers on the system; Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the method in which customers make donations; and Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the method of completing a fundraising event.

Figure I illustrates the Charity Donation Management System (CDMS), which enables users of the Short Message Service (SMS) provided by mobile phone network operators to make donations to charitable organisations.

The customer 100 will have two methods of making donations. The first is a mobile phone 101 capable of transmitting and receiving SMS messages. The second is a Personal Computer 102, which is capable of connecting to the Internet 114.

Using the first method the Customer 100 will send an SMS message 120 to an SMS Gateway 128 via a Short Message Service Centre (SMSC) 122. The SMS Gateway then uses the SMS message to invoke the Customer Request Control Process 191 within the CDMS 180 and forwards the entire message. The Customer Request Control Process will return a response to the SMS Gateway, which will be returned to the customer via the SMSC.

Using the second method the Customer 100 will connect directly to the Customer Request Control Process via an Internet connection 110.

The Customer Request Control Process 191 uses the Registered User database 195 and the Caller Id within the SMS message to identify the customer. The process deals with all SMS messages, responds depending on the SMS request, and generates and returns it's response to the customer. If this is a registered customer requesting to participate in a fundraising event then the request is passed on to the Event Management Process 192.

The Event Management Process 192 manages every aspect of a fundraising event using the Event database 196. If a request is received to participate in a fundraising event, the process will first determine if the event is active and if so will allocate an ID to the customer within the range of IDs available for the event. The process will then store the Customer ID with the event ID in the Event database before passing the same information on to the Transaction Management Process 193.

Upon completion of a fundraising event the process will perform the following tasks: Identify those customers with an allocated ID matching the winning ID of the fundraising event, and via the Transaction Management Process will credit the customers system account; Send the same list of customers to the Customer Request Control Process, which will in turn notify each customer; Generate a list of participants in the fundraising event, together with the total donation to the charity of their choice. The list is then sent to the Customer Request Control Process, which will in turn notify each customer ; Inform the Account Management Process 199 that an event has been completed ; and Set up the'time window'for the next fundraising event.

The Transaction Management Process 193 manages the Customer Account Database 194, and will receive requests from both the Customer Request Control Process, and the Event Management Process. The requests will contain instructions to debit, credit, or give the balance of a customer's system account.

The Account Management Process 199 will, upon completion of an event, take payment from the customer Payment Method 184 of the amount outstanding on the customer's System Account. The process will also make payments to the charitable organisations 182 matching the sums donated.

A method in which the customers use the system to make donations to charitable causes will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In order to make donations a customer must first have registered their details as shown in Fig 2.

The registration process may be done using SMS'commands'from the customer's mobile phone, or directly through an Internet site.

Registration details will include the customer's name 224, address 234, payment method 244, and their preferred charity 254. The preferred charity must be selected from a list of available charities. This list will be updated as new charities register on the system. If a customer does not specify a preferred charity then their donations will be divided equally amongst all charitable organisations registered on the system. The customer will be able to amend their details, including the preferred charity, at any time using SMS'commands' from their mobile phone, or directly through an Internet site.

The SMS'commands'will be single words such as'REGISTER','PLAY','DONATE', etc. which will be typed into the SMS message editor of the customer's mobile phone, & then sent to a predefined message box number. The commands may also include parameters which will be any data after the command e. g. a customer could send the message 'DONATE 50'where'DONATE is the command and'i50'is a parameter.

Once registered, customers will be advised via an SMS message 256 of the next available fundraising event in which they will be able to participate. The message will also include details of the'time window'in which they must send the'participate command'to the predefined message box number in order to qualify for that event. The'time window'will be a period of time prior to the fundraising event, for example, a Friday evening between

19 : 00-21 : 00. The'participate command'may, for example, be'PLAY'.

Upon receipt of the'participate'command 310 within the given time window, the system will allocate an ID to the customer which corresponds to an ID from the fundraising event 340 e. g. if the event is a horse race then the ID would be a horse number, or if the event were the bonus ball of a national lottery then the ID would be a ball number, etc.

At the same time, the customer's account will then be debited 350 by an amount, which is the entry fee to the fundraising event. A percentage of the entry fee will be credited to the customer's preferred charity account 360. The remainder will be added to the prize fund.

At this stage the system generates a reply message containing the ID allocated to the

customer for the fundraising event 370.

Upon completion of the fundraising event 400, an SMS message containing the result will be sent to all participants. Those participants with an allocated ID matching the winning ID of the fundraising event 434, will receive additional text in their message 450 indicating the value of the cash prize credited to their system account 460. The message 450 will remind the customer of the following available options: a) making a further donating to charity by giving a portion of the prize money; b) collect it-a cheque will be posted out to them; or c) credit their method of payment account.

The above options are available at any time to customers whose system account is in credit.

Those participants with an allocated ID, which does not match the winning ID of the fundraising event 432, will receive additional text in their message 440 indicating the total donation raised by the event, which will be made to the charity of their choice.

A customer may participate in the same fundraising event any number of times.

The above gives details of the method in which the system is used to raise funds for charitable organisations. Additional applications of this system might include the use of SMS commands to purchase products for home delivery, book tickets, pay bills, poll customer opinion, etc.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A system to raise funds for charitable organisations using the Short Message Service (SMS) of mobile phone network operators, comprising the processes capable of : Receiving, actioning, and issuing SMS instructions between itself and mobile phone users; Managing a fundraising event; Issuing participants with IDs corresponding to an ID in a fundraising event; and Identifying, informing, and crediting the accounts of the customers who participated in a fundraising event, and who were issued with an ID matching the winning ID of that event.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a process that manages financial transactions between the mobile phone user, itself, and charitable organisation.
3. A system as claimed in claim 2 wherein an Account Database is used to hold payment details of both customer and charitable organisation.
4. A system as claimed in claim 1 whereby an external event such as a lottery bonus ball, or horse racing, etc. will be used as a reference point to determine the range of IDs available, and the outcome of a fundraising event.
5. A system as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a Customer Information Database, which will be used to store details of registered customers.
6. A system as claimed in claim 5 wherein the Caller-ID contained within the SMS message will be used to identify each customer.
7. A system as claimed in claim I wherein the first word of received SMS messages will be a command to be actioned from a predefined list of keywords/instructions, and subsequent words will be the command parameters.
8. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein all functionality will be accessible through an Internet connection.
9. A system as described herein with reference to Figures 1-4 of the accompanying drawing.