Less than two weeks ago a devastating earthquake hit Haiti and the world has responded generously. Text messages and giving, along with the role of social media in fundraising, has taken a huge leap forward in the public eye.

Despite some of the results, this is not the golden medina of fundraising for the near term. Just one part of a complex puzzle. Paying attention to the characteristics of your donors and stakeholders, and understanding what works, and doesn’t, in your organization will allow you to craft the best possible strategy for the future.

Here are two articles with some insight on the social media fundraising tools utilized the past two weeks by the American Red Cross who, as of Friday afternoon, has raised approximately $153 million – $27 million via text messaging.

from The Chronicle of Philanthropy:

Few Text Donors Choose to Receive Additional Charity Messages

Very few donors who have made text-message gifts to the American Red Cross’s Haiti relief efforts have chosen to receive follow-up messages from the group.

As of Thursday, the American Red Cross had received more than $26-million in text donations for the disaster in Haiti. Of the people who made those gifts, a little more than 5 percent gave the Red Cross permission to send them additional text messages.

from Mashable:

5 Social Media Lessons From the Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort

With the widespread adoption of social media in the non-profit sector, people’s ability to act and support communities in need like Haiti has only been increased. There’s no greater example of this than the incredible fundraising job the American Red Cross did with social and mobile channels.

… Given the population’s general migration to social media, giving has simply moved with it. But is there more to learn? Here are five early social media lessons from the Haiti Earthquake relief effort.