Mobile firm asks FEC to expedite request on text donations

Revolution Messaging is asking the Federal Election Commission to expedite its political text-to-donate advisory opinion request now that the commission has paved the way for wireless carriers to begin offering the service to campaigns.

The mobile strategy firm’s AOR, submitted July 31, asks that wireless users be allowed to text more than $50 per billing cycle to federal political committees and that those committees be allowed to share premium short codes for accepting the donations. Revolution argues these measures make text-to-donate more accessible to down-ballot campaigns.  

Scott Goodstein, founder and CEO of Revolution, applauded the FEC’s ruling on text-to-donate earlier this week.

“We are glad the [wireless] carriers will be moving these programs forward in the days ahead and that the FEC did not allow them to simply reject political action committees’ mobile donation programs under a generic excuse that these programs would hurt their  ‘branding’, Goodstein said in the statement. “Clearly, if the carriers can allow gangster rap ringtones, horoscopes, dating tips, and even pornography—they can surely find ways to allow federal PACs the ability to text message donate.”

Goodstein credits Revolution with getting language inserted into the final advisory opinion that makes the system more open, while eliminating the possibility of wireless carriers arbitrarily rejecting political campaigns as text-to-donate clients.

“We urge the FEC to expedite our additional AOR in the coming days,” Goodstein said. “Our request asks for the Commission to approve additional ways to make mobile giving to federal PACs more efficient and more accessible.”