Obama campaign first to accept donations via text message

President Obama's campaign announced that it would become the first political campaign to accept donations via text message, with supporters able to make contributions up to $50 per cellphone billing cycle by firing off a quick text.

Supporters can make the donations by texting "GIVE" to 62262 — numbers that correspond to the spelling of "Obama" using a telephone keypad. “Grassroots giving is powering this campaign,” said Obama campaign manager Jim Messina in a statement. “Accepting small donations by text message will help us engage even more grassroots supporters who want to play a role by donating whatever they can afford to the campaign — and get the president reelected in November.” The campaign said that the service should be immediately available for subscribers to Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular. Other carriers — including AT&T, the nation's second largest wireless provider — are expected to enable the service soon.