Thousands have donated to Haiti relief via text. Should you?

As I've been following the unfolding tragedy of the disaster in Haiti, I've also been captivated by the viral spread of "text to donate." President Obama encouraged concerned citizens to text 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross; Wyclef Jean set up a $5 text-to-give service to benefit his Haiti-based non-profit, Yele. Advocated on TV, the Web and via Twitter and Facebook, the appeals netted more than $1 million in donations in the first 24 hours after news of the disaster broke. Amazing.

But — and I realize this may well be what my Bundle Team colleague Mark called "a yuppie concern" — there's something about text-to-give that has my inner skeptic on alert. Texting is one of the most expensive things you can do with your phone, and a huge profit generator for the wireless carriers. Mix that with feel-good impulsive charitable giving and an endorsement from the White House and, at the very least, I want to know more. This morning I called consumer advocates, the phone companies, and the people who run mobile giving businesses (yes, they're businesses) to ask what, in our rush to help, no one has asked: Is this really the best way to give?

As it turns out, it's a mixed bag. For charities, it has the benefit of ease and immediacy, which are key to fundraising success, and Verizon and Sprint have waived the associated SMS fees. (According to MSNBC, AT&T has said that standard text messaging fees may apply, but I'll bet they'll reverse that pretty quickly, if they haven't already.) Ease and immediacy benefits would-be donors, plus the low bar for entry: it's just $10. And outright fraud is allegedly rare - to set up an SMS address for giving, charities have to prove their 501(c)3 status to the CTIA, the wireless industry's trade association.

Easy and legit — that's good. But the immediacy is an exaggeration, at least once you send your SMS. It typically takes 45 days for your texted donation to get to the organization in need, said Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon, adding that in the case of Haiti relief, they're trying to speed up the process. Also, texting a donation clearly appeals to impulse, which discourages any kind of due diligence or research. Ultimately, the winners are big name-brand non-profits like the Red Cross, which have devoted resources and technology to making their donation process uber-convenient.

Even the charities are conflicted, says Jed Alpert, co-founder of Mobile Commons, a company that helps non-profits and for-profit businesses set up mobile campaigns. Right now, donations via text are capped at $5 or $10 — phone companies might waive the SMS fees, but they're not likely to front you $50 — and some organizations worry that donors who might otherwise give $25 or $50 will text $10 and be done with it. There's no data to prove it; mobile giving is too new.

I'm grateful to everyone who's given money to the effort, however they've done it. And, Alpert assures me, this won't even be a question for long. Eventually, he reminded me, our phones will be able to process credit card transactions and text-to-give won't be necessary. For now, though, I'm going to give the old-fashioned way: with a credit card, over the internet.