The American Red Cross organized a campaign in which it collected donations through Text messages for Haiti earthquake relief efforts in the US. The organization collected a sum of $22 million which is roughly one-fifth of the $112 million total raised so far.

The donations rose as appeals flowed from celebrities, athletes and even the first lady. The National Football League too stepped in and promoted the donation during its weekend playoff games which resulted in huge donations pledges being made every hour.

The American Red Cross has emerged as the biggest relief organization even as it was appealing to Congress for a bailout last year. Despite the questions raised about the organization's financial accountability and performance, it has received donations of such massive amount.

The amount broke the previous record of $400,000 raised for emergency relief using similar technology. American Red Cross spokesman Roger Lowe said, "It's truly an unprecedented amount for a text campaign." The large sum of the total amount has come from sources such as corporate and online donations, however.

Mobile users send the word "Haiti" through mobile text message to the number 90999 and a $10 pledge is added to their bill. The mobile service providers said that the charges for text-messaging for the Haiti effort would be standard.

Verizon Wireless, transferred nearly $3 million in text-message pledges to the American Red Cross which otherwise would have taken months as normally service providers wait for the users to pay the pledged amount.

The American Red Cross is not the only group to see rising donations made through text messaging. Many young people make donations to various charities using their mobile phones.

Daniel Borochoff of the American Institute of Philanthropy expressed that Verizon is doing a good job and funds must be transferred rapidly. He said the young people who usually do not make donations will start donating as the technology has made it very easy.

Nonprofit organization, Mobile Giving Foundation has established the network for donations through mobiles and the mobile donation network is connected with all four major U. S. service providers, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the American Red Cross was criticized for inadequate planning, poor management of supplies and faulty record-keeping and logistics by its counterparts in Europe. And the organization also faced difficulties in deploying over $1 billion in donations after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mr. Lowe also said the president of the organization has placed special emphasis on transparency and accountability in dealing with the earthquake in Haiti.

The Red Cross is among the few nonprofit organizations that hold a Congressional charter with a president who serves as its honorary chairman. It collects donations for almost every major disaster as it is known and has presence across the country.

The State Department has helped start the "Text to Help" campaign for Red Cross. Normally it would have taken a couple of weeks to start the campaign but as the State Department stepped in the process was made quick.

MGive is the organization which processes the contributions for the program. It did not charge the fees it would normally charge for the processing. Donations through mobiles is growing however some question whether it will reduce individual donations because of the $10 set amount.

The Red Cross plans to deliver supplies like tarps, blankets and hygiene kits to people in the country while also building latrines and training Creole-speaking volunteers for working with US navy ship meant for medical assistance.