DMS - Donors Message Service SMS charitable giving a story of successful cooperation from Slovakia

Slovak Donors´ Forum (SDF) Slovak Donors´ Forum (SDF) was officially registered in 2000 as the Interest Association of Legal Entities. SDF is an association of donor leaders in Slovakia. In 2006 the Club of Corporate Donors was formed by SDF as an association of companies that do business in the Slovak Republic. SDF is a member of the Donors and Foundations´ Networks Europe (DAFNE) and Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support (WINGS).

Slovak Donors´ Forum (SDF) SDF members and observers Club of Corporate Donors Members Carpathian Foundation Civil Society Development Foundation Open Society Foundation Pontis Foundation Children of Slovakia Foundation Slovak Humanitarian Council Foundation - Center for Contemporary Arts Intenda Foundation Slovak-Czech Women's Fund SOCIA-Social Reform Foundation Orange foundation Central European Foundation Habitat for Humanity Slovakia Association of Community Foundations Slovakia Observers German Marshall Fund of the United States Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe Members Pivovary Topvar (Brewery Topvar) GlaxoSmithKline Slovensko Provident Financial Slovak Telekom Mayer McCann Erickson Prva stavebna sporitelna Slovenska sporitelna Microsoft Slovakia

Slovak Donors´ Forum (SDF) SDF mission promotion and reinforcement of philanthropy and responsible giving strategies in Slovakia (by innovative instruments such as DMS mechanism and professionalization of corporate philanthropy – Club of Corporate Donors) enhancement of donors´ position and cooperation development of Slovak civil society cooperation with organizations pursuing similar activities abroad

External activities Internal activities Slovak Donors´ Forum (SDF) External activities SDF also implements outreach programs that promote and reinforce philanthropy in Slovakia, and leads donors to more transparent and accountable grant-making and giving. 1. Corporate Philanthropy Program (Club of Corporate Donors) 2. DMS - Donors Message Service (SMS Charitable Giving) 3. Program for reinforcement of Slovak foundation sector Internal activities are focused on the membership constituency, and benefits can be specified as follows: 1. Networking and cooperation 2. Services Information Center Reference Center Education Center Consultation Center 3. Presentation 4. Special service and products for members

To support a good thing is so easy! Just send a DMS – charitable SMS. DMS - Key message DMS Slogan To support a good thing is so easy! Just send a DMS – charitable SMS. Find a standard system easily accessible, running on a regular basis that would bring new sources to NGOs while respecting ethical and legal conditions.

DMS - goals DMS project goals To provide NGOs with the possibility of receiving financial support from individuals using mobile phones via SMS To develop a financial mechanism which is transparent, easily communicated, keeping ethical rules and contributing to the development of individual philanthropy To create a sustainable financial mechanism based on a non - commercial principle

DMS DMS Registered international trademark Slovak Donors Forum (SDF) is the exclusive holder of the project & rights to use and spread it in Slovakia Partners of the project are all mobile operators in Slovakia (Orange Slovakia, T-Mobile Slovakia (its successor T - Com Slovakia), Telefonica O2 Slovakia) & DMS Service

Unified conditions for all NGOs: Concept of DMS Unified conditions for all NGOs: One phone number for all participating NGO 877 for DMS Slovakia Same format of SMS: DMS_KEY WORD e. g. DMS CHANCE Same price for all DMS 1 EUR Same conditions for registration for all NGOs

DMS as transparent system NGOs have to: meet all legal requirements set down by state in order to be eligible for registration into the DMS mechanism fulfill the set of criteria and submit a project Ethical Principles of DMS The public is informed about DMS projects, money transfers, purpose of the money expenditure. NGOs have to report back the real use of the money fundraised by DMS.

DMS - Major benefits NGOs Unified conditions for all NGOs Easily accessible mechanism for all NGOs and all NGOs are eligible to receive the same quality and quantity of service from SDF NGOs do not have to enter into negotiations on technical and legal conditions, everything is set down Simple conditions of the mechanism increase its popularity among donors Central information point - extra communication support for NGOs projects (SDF and www.darcovskasms.sk) Mobile operators Service that enhance their brand as responsible companies. Knowledge about NGO sector. New product using existing technologies.

DMS Management system DMS Council 1 representative of the Slovak Donors Forum, 2 representatives of NGOs, 1 PR expert and 1 media expert Slovak Donors Forum Legal and tax background Coordination of the project Communication with all stakeholders NGO dealings (registration, trainings, consultations) DMS provider (technical service and software) Mobile operators (provide connectivity and communication)

February 2005 – beginning of the negotiations DMS - history ...a bit of history August 2004 - SDF approached the Czech Donors Forum with the intention to launch the project in Slovakia November 2004 – first meeting with the mobile operators (Orange and T-Mobile) – preliminary interest and willingness to open the negotiations February 2005 – beginning of the negotiations March 2007 – cooperation agreements signed July 2007 – project launched and opened for NGOs 2008 – negotiations with Telefonica O2 October 2009 – Telefonica O2 joined the partnership

DMS – Current situation DMS Slovakia – partnership of 5 equal partners (Orange Slovakia, T-Com Slovakia, Telefonica O2 Slovakia, DMS Service, Slovak Donors Forum) with different rights and responsibilities in the project (defined in the cooperation agreements) August 2010 – 73 active passwords, 45 NGOs participated May 2010 – 352 892 DMS messages sent July 2010 – 465 778,62 € 2010 – 3 - month limit for password activation cancelled – now without limit up to one year June 2010 – VAT related to pre-paid DMS refunded – value of one DMS = 1€

Lessons learned What went WRONG We did not succeed to persuade mobile operators to launch DMS mechanism as exclusive mechanism (they still give numbers to 5-7 largest NGOs to collect money separately). What went RIGHT Mechanism was launched, VAT on pre-paid was eliminated, no limits on number of involved NGOs.

Lessons learned Essential elements which must be in place for a partnership or collaboration to succeed mutual trust motivation and values (must be the same or at least interconnected) capacity and internal resources (support of SDF Executive Committee, PR agency, friends who helped with contracts...) Stubbornness Measure of success Evaluation of outcomes mechanism was launched results are measured by number of sent DMS and collected Euros for NGOs  

THANK YOU! Laura DITTEL Chairperson, SDF Executive Board Slovak Donors´ Forum Parickova 24 821 08 Bratislava, Slovakia Tel./ fax: + 421.2.5441 7917 e-mail: donorsforum@donorsforum.sk web: www.donorsforum.sk www.klubfiremnychdarcov.sk