It is hard to get young people to participate in the political process, whether it is getting them to vote or getting them to donate to a good cause.  Despite often showing early enthusiasm, the ‘yutes’ of America rarely translate that excitement into real, sustained action.  Barack Obama turned that trend around in 2009 with a remarkably high turnout of young voters and it looks like charities have managed to do the same thing in 2010 with the new ability to text a donation.

This has all come about because of a non-profit organization called the Mobile Giving Foundation.  In the United States, the organization has teamed up with Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T to offer the service.  To donate, you simply type the word Haiti and send to the number 90999 and your wireless company will automatically add your $10 pledge to your phone bill.

The results have been staggeringly successful. The American Red Cross has raised $22 million in donations just from the text message campaign. There are no actual numbers yet about the age range of these contributors, but considering the source we can probably rest assured they weren’t from the senior center.

“The beauty of it is the young people who don’t give will give because it’s so easy,” said Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy. “They hit a few buttons and they can show off, and it’s a cooler and hipper way than getting out your credit card or whipping out a check like your parents do.”

Last week as I watched CNN’s coverage of Haiti, a young man e-mailed Jack Cafferty to express how he used his phone to text a donation to Haiti.  He said that he raised $50 for Haiti while playing poker with his buddies and telling them that they could text a donation easier than texting their girlfriends.  He observed that previously he didn’t know how to donate to charity. but when he heard about this he said to himself, “I know how to text.”

There has been some concern that the pledges given through the wireless operators would be months in coming while the needs in Haiti are immediate, but Verizon said they wouldn’t wait for the phone bills to be paid. They recently transmitted $3 million in text pledges to Haiti for immediate use.  All of the wireless providers have said they will not charge the usual text message fees and Jeffrey Nelson of Verizon says they will be making “no money off this.”

The disaster in Haiti has provided us with another example of how to get young people involved.  We can be sure that it won’t be long before we can text a donation to our favorite candidate as easily as it was to help the poor people of Haiti.  The next question we need to ask is, “how do we make voting as easy as sending a text?”  Now that really would change things, and I'm not just talking about on American Idol!