MobileImpact.Org

Compassion, Care and Commitment

Today, I received a note from our friends at CHoiCe Trust.  They are excited by the current campaigns on Facebook and eager to share information about their great organization.  Take a look and click on the pictures to learn more about our partner.

I was struck by the line right at the top of the first page: "COMPASSION, CARE and COMMITMENT = CHoiCe Caregivers."  It's a good motto, and as simple as it seems, its what we're trying to leverage through Facebook and the used cell phone campaigns -- your compassion and care for others, and a small commitment to act and donate your used phones.

For CHoiCE, we're committed to helping connect the Community Based care network so that this organization can do its great work even more effectively.

Thanks for the effort to join and please, invite your friends.  I hope these stories and the work of CHoiCe helps inspire you further.

Donating Used Phones -- Who, How, What, When, Where & Why

Many people have been asking lately about the process for donating phones for MobileImpact.Org.  I thought now would be a good time to take the age-old approach and answer the basics:

Who?  

You and ... your friends, your co-workers, classmates, family, neighbors, teammates, sorority sisters, fraternity brothers -- anyone with a used cell phone.

How?

There are 4 very simple steps:

1. Print the PREPAID mailing label (It's the photo below and on this web-page -- we can email it to you if you prefer)
2. Place used cell phones (as many as you want) into a box suitable for mailing
3. Paste, Tape or otherwise Affix the PREPAID mailing label on the box
4. Mail the Box 

What?  

We have partnered with The Wireless Source,the second largest cell-phone refurbishing company in the US.  The wireless source receives your phone(s) in the mail, clears the data from them, and, if they are still useful, prepares to resell them.  If your phone has no resale value, as one of only a few ISO environmentally certified agents, it recycles the phone and its precious metals to prevent toxic waste. The company has agreed to a partnership that contributes a majority of the phone's value to MobileImpact.Org.  

Then, with the resources we receive from your used phone, we invest in solutions for NGO and nonprofit partners internationally and in the US.  Today, means low cost communications solutions -- phones, airtime, data centers, etc -- to advance their development projects.  Our aspiration is to eventually design innovative ways to connect the 3 billion people in the world who today have no sustained communications access.  We hope to grow to that stage.

Some details worth noting:

• Phones in any condition are acceptable
• Chargers and sim cards are not required   
• This is environmentally friendly 
• Your data and privacy is protected 

If you have any questions, please, email me directly: Bradford@MobileImpact.Org 

When?

Now, Tomorrow, Earth Day, or Whenever you have a used cell phone.

Where?

Right from your home, office, school -- and you know where the phones are -- in glove boxes, desk drawers, etc.

 
Why? 

MobileImpact.Org is the idea that we can powerfully leverage used cell phones to advance social justice and community development on a global scale.

The truth is, almost all of us have these used assets sitting in our homes and we don't know what to do with them, how they could be useful again, and what difference it makes.  And though it takes a couple steps (PLEASE PRINT THE LABEL AND MAIL THE PHONE ... :)), the truth is its an incredible way for you to contribute to a nonprofit that is advancing communications access and reducing cost barriers on behalf of community projects around the world.

It's the right thing to do.

Again -- email us if you have any questions.

And, thanks for your support.

A Campaign for CHoiCe Community Health

CHoiCe Trust is a connector. 

This small yet powerful group, located in the foothills of Tzaneen -- the "fruit-basket of South Africa" --- reaches across hundreds of miles to train and resource independently employed health workers to support diverse communities all across the Limpopo Province.

When we teamed up with CHoiCe, they explained the difficulty of staying connected to their network of service providers and the 50 Community Based Organizations (CBO) they provide capacity building, training, and oversight for in the field.  Many of these are one person operations, and it can take days and sometimes weeks to follow through on critical messages, which are often urgent.

The principal problem, of course, is costs.  Many fieldworkers survive on an income of 30R per day, or about $4 US.  And, while communications access and cell phones are a priority, its easy to see how, with families to feed and other basic needs to satisfy, paying for more airtime is often a priority that falls off the list.  This seems especially the case when your trying to serve sick people in your village.

So, what we proposed was a simple campaign to mobilize used phones and empower CHoiCe with a centralized capacity to better connect the CBO network they work tirelessly to support.  It's a win-win-win in our view -- CHoiCe will get to be better at fulfilling their mission; MobileImpact.Org will accelerate community development through used cell phones; and You, that's right, You can make a difference by donating your used cell phone to support the project.

CHoiCe has agreed to help all of us understand the impact of their work in South Africa, and will be sharing 12 personal stories during the campaign of people who have been supported by their incredible programs and services.  Today, we learn about Mlangeni and his journey to recovery from Tuberculosis -- and the importance of staying connected to his health providers.

The campaign will run through March 31st.  Look for more stories and updates as we move along, and thanks for your support.

Can We Build a Movement?

1,000,000

That's a big number.

Yesterday we launched our Facebook Page and a campaign for one million phones by Earth Day.  In my last post, I was worried about mobilizing one phone.  Just one.  Today, a million.

So its bold and audacious.  But I hope it generates interest and gets you to act.  

This raises an altogether different question: How do we build a movement? I know, used cell phones, a movement? But I've studied movements and believe we have potential.

• First, we have a clear mission: accelerate social justice and international development
• Second, there is a simple and specific action to get involved: donate your used phone
• Last, it's an easy way to make a meaningful difference and feel apart of something larger

But the most important part, people need to believe we can accomplish great things, together.  I know these are big lofty ideas, but when we really think about it, donating used phones, and building a movement together has strong potential -- potential to improve lives and development efforts around the world.

One. A million. I hope we land at least somewhere in between.

What matters is we get involved and act when and where we can.

A New Chapter

MobileImpact is the idea that we can powerfully leverage used cell phones to advance social justice and community development.

Its an idea that has thus far been untested.  That's about to change.

I shouldn't say its untested entirely, just not by us.  In fact, there are lots of groups that seek to acquire used cell phones, some for financial returns, some for environmental reasons, even even some for social impact.  Given the glut of used phones in the US alone -- over 130 million annually -- one would think it should be easy to mobilize people to give phones which sit idle in our homes, cars, desk drawers and glove boxes.

But to be honest, It's hard work.  Take us for example.  We have a box now with over 4 used phones just waiting to be shipped to the refurbishing company so we can recycle and add resources to support our mission.  Every person I've talked to has a similar issue.  Apparently, we're not doing enough to provide both an easy method and a compelling reason for people to give their used phones.

What would be a compelling reason for you to give your used phone?  Is the pre-paid label a useful enough tool to donate?  I would love to hear feedback.