Text Donation

This page sets out the terms for members of the public using clients signed up directly to Vir2's text donation services.

Rates

The charity to which you make a successful donation will receive 100% of your donation as the UK mobile network operators have generously agreed to waive all transaction charges. The networks covered include O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone.

If your network is not shown above, it may be a "virtual network" using the infrastructure provided to it by one of the networks above (for example Tesco Mobile use O2) in which case the charity should receive the same amount as if the donor were the parent network's customer. Occasionally smaller virtual networks have not yet set up text donation with their parent network. Please see your network provider.

All figures correct as of 1st June 2011. All figures exclude Gift Aid. Any improvements will be automatically passsed on to the charity.

Who runs this service?

The text donation service is provided by Vir2 Ltd. Vir2 only work for registered UK charities.

The data we collect is controlled and owned by the charity. Vir2 is acting as a service provider under their instruction. Our registration number with the infomation Commissioner is Z9709740. We are an ethical business. We do not sell data to third parties and we terminate the services of clients that send SPAM messages. Our aim is to provide text donation services to as many charities as possible by making them as cheap and cost effective as we can.

If you have any questions specifically about the text donation service please email support@vir2.co.uk

Who can use this service?

The services are only available to UK mobile network users donating in the UK and includes Northern Ireland, but excludes the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

How to use this service?

Always get the bill payer's permission before using our services.

To make a text donation you start by sending a text, this will cost your standard network rate - usually less than 10p and may be part of a free bundle. To make a donation send a text message to the 5 digit ("short") code advertised by the charity.

Your text message should start with the "keyword" promoted by the charity. The keyword sent will determine which of our charity clients will receive the donation. please make sure you spell it correctly and you are sending you message to the short code promoted by the charity.

How much did I pay?

You should be told up front by the charity how much you will be donating. Once you have sent a text you will receive a reply message. If the reply message appears in your mobile handset's message inbox with a "sender" 70001 the donor you have been charged £1, if the "sender" is 70300 you have paid £3, and if the "sender" is 70700 then you paid £5.

If you have a contract account with your mobile network then the charge wil be added to your bill. If you are a pre-paid (or pay as you go) customer then an amount of airtime equivelent to the amount of money that you are giving will be tasken from your airtime balance. Sometimes you may not have enough money on your mobile phone account balance to pay the donation. When you subsequently top-up you will not be charged again, if you still want to give money to your chosen charity please text the keyword to the short code again.

What will appear on my statement?

The wording that may appear on your bill will vary by network and package. The doantion may appear as "VAT Free payment" or "Payment outside the scope of VAT".