$4 MILLION MARK ECLIPSED BY SOPHIST’S TEXT-TO-PLEDGE™ MOBILE FUNDRAISING PROGRAM

Added: (Thu Apr 22 2010)

Pressbox (Press Release) - Emeril Lagasse, Stanley Tucci and Food Bank For New York City Can-Do Awards Dinner Move TTP Tally Past Benchmark

New York, New York, April 22, 2010 – Events last week for the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship in New York and Friends of the Israel Defense Forces in Atlanta brought Sophist’s Text-to-Pledge™ total to just over $3.9 Million, setting the stage for Tuesday evening’s Food Bank For New York City Can-Do Awards Dinner attendees, led by the night’s master of ceremonies and Text-to-Pledge™ presenter, Academy Award nominee Stanley Tucci, to push the aggregate raised since TTP inception past the $4 Million mark. During a March webinar Sophist predicted that the Text-to-Pledge™ program would surpass $7 Million raised prior to the conclusion of 2010. Sophist CEO Reed Baker reports: “Thanks to forward thinking at charities such as NFTE, FIDF, and Food Bank For New York City, we are on pace to break $7 Million this year, and that number is beginning to look very conservative.”
Sophist Productions is the top mobile fundraiser in the special events space, with more than $4 Million now raised for charities nationwide through Text-to-Pledge™. Sophist uses a fusion of sponsor activation, digital signage, and interactive on-screen text messaging capabilities in order to create Text-to-Pledge™ (www.texttopledge.com), the execution of which generates eco-friendly, public, competitive, and viral giving environments at fundraisers targeting major donors, most often sit-down galas, dinners, and luncheons hosting 250 guests or more. As pledges are sent from attendee mobile phones, the copy is displayed on screen in real time for all attendees to see. Following the event, SMS is used to communicate with donors and streamline collection efforts. Text-to-Pledge™ pricing is risk free for qualifying Non Profit Organizations.
The Spring Gala season reaches its height in May and June with Text-to-Pledge™ scheduled to raise money for hospitals, universities, religious groups, military veterans, medical researchers, civil rights organizations, and child advocacy groups in New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. Sophist then plans to turn its summertime focus to the roll out of services aimed at further increasing ROI for its network of strategic partners, fundraising consultants, and non profit organizations. New initiatives such as sponsorship acquisition, potential giving diagnostics, and year-round mobile fundraising campaign management will further expand on Sophist’s ability to generate the unrestricted funds charities need for operations and programs.

“On a client to client basis, the NPO return on investment in Text-to-Pledge™ during 2009 ranged from 200% to upwards of 4,000%,” says Mr. Baker. “Our goal is to continue pushing the envelope technologically but with a sharp focus on generating even greater returns for the charity world. This can be achieved by adding to the work we currently do and moving our consultancy past a client’s one-off event experience towards the provision and execution of innovative solutions that function successfully in the context of ongoing development strategies.”

Sophist is a Limited Liability Company based in New York City providing a multitude of media and marketing services to celebrity, corporate, and non profit clientele.


For further information on Text-to-Pledge™, visit www.texttopledge.com. To schedule an interview contact Michael McConnell at 347 528 6144 or mike@sophistproductions.com