Obama taking donations via texting

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- The Obama campaign has begun offering U.S. supporters a new way to donate money -- from their cellphones by text message.

Jed Alpert, chief executive officer of Mobile Commons, the mobile provider for the Obama re-election campaign to raise money by text message, called the strategy a "game changer."

"Text donations level the playing field by giving people who never had a stake in the outcome an opportunity to participate in the process," Alpert said in a statement. "It will make politics more inclusive for the poor, disenfranchised, and people who don't have credit cards. In the beginning, we'll probably see more engagement than revenue, but texting donations is a real win for inclusion."

While non-profit groups have used text message donations, President Obama's is the first political campaign to do so, CNN reported. Supporters can donate from Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular phones this week, and the campaign is working with other companies.