OpenMarket’s CMX2 platform recognised for powering milestone SMS charity appeal

London – November 7, 2011 – OpenMarket, a leading global mobile transaction hub, has been awarded an Effective Mobile Marketing Award (EMMA) for its work on the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) East Africa Crisis Appeal. The appeal, which started in July, raised more than £1.5 million through SMS donations alone, using OpenMarket’s CMX2 platform. The DEC believes this may be the highest total ever raised in the UK by an SMS campaign for a single charitable cause.

The annual EMMAs are organised by Mobile Marketing Magazine to recognise outstanding achievements in mobile marketing.

Speaking at the ceremony which took place in London, Open Market’s Andrew Darling, Associate Director of Marketing EMEA said “We are thrilled to have been recognised for our contribution to what has been a milestone campaign for the DEC and an incredible team effort between our organisations. The UK public’s response to the appeal via SMS demonstrates their receptiveness to mobile donations. OpenMarket’s CMX2 platform has certainly proven its ability to provide charities with an instant and effective way to harness this.”

Donors text 70000 and a key word such as ‘AFRICA’ to donate £5 to the DEC. The DEC receives the full £5 and OpenMarket worked with all the UK networks to ensure that the text is free of charge for all donors. OpenMarket’s CMX2 platform also enabled Gift Aid details to be forwarded by text and for Gift Aid to be claimed automatically for eligible repeat donors. More than 70% percent of donors responded to the request for Gift Aid details.

The 70000 short code was developed specifically by OpenMarket for the DEC charity appeals and can be rapidly launched across all networks in less than 24 hours powered by OpenMarket CMX2 platform, allowing charities to reach the 50 million mobile users in the UK.

The DEC East Africa Appeal will remain open until 31 December 2011 and funds will continue to help those in the region until July 2013. An update on the situation in East Africa and how DEC member agencies are helping can be found here: http://www.dec.org.uk/appeals/east-africa-crisis-appeal/100-days-update