Text donations skyrocket after Haiti earthquake

For the Red Cross, this week has been its first foray into text message donations, said spokeswoman Meredith Connelly. As of noon Thursday, the effort had generated $4 million for the charity, a Red Cross spokesman said. Verizon Wireless spokesman Howard Waterman said later in the day he understood donations made via text messaging had reached $5 million.

By comparison, Waterman said, in 2009 - the "biggest mobile giving year in history" - texts from all wireless carriers to all participating charities totaled $4 million.

A $10 donation can be made by texting HAITI to 90999. Here's how:

If your cell phone has text-messaging capability, type HAITI as the message. Instead of entering a phone number, type 90999. Expect to receive a confirmation message within a few minutes; then reply "yes" to complete the donation.

Spokesmen for AT&T and Verizon said Thursday 100 percent of all donations will go to the Red Cross. Donors will not be charged text-messaging fees. AT&T spokesman Steven Schwadron said Thursday the company updated its systems so that the text messages sent to the relief efforts are free.