December 3rd, 2010 → 4:58 pm @ Rekha at PRX
So many of you have asked how to donate to your favorite stations from within the Player, and unfortunately the answer is still, ‘Apple doesn’t allow it.’
We last wrote about this in June. Maybe because it’s now the season of giving, but more people are calling on Apple to change its no-donation policy.
On the PRX blog, we describe our dream scenario:
PRX’s Public Radio Player iPhone app is a great example of what such a change could mean. The app has had over 2 million unique downloads. Nearly 500 noncommercial stations across the U.S. have a page in the app. Imagine if each page had a Donate button that, with two or three taps, let you send money to the station.
Nonprofits need donations, and mobile giving could be a real breakthrough for them. The folks at Care2, who care about nonprofits, set up a petition. Please consider signing it. Thanks!
Update: The New York Times just reported on this issue, interviewing PRX CEO Jake Shapiro among others. The petition now has over 2000 signatures… be sure to add yours!
Rekha from Public Radio Player
2 years ago
Charles, that is a great idea – I’ll check out how the Phillips does this. We’ve looked into SMS (text) donations in great detail. However, carriers currently limit donations to a maximum of $10. That is a much, much smaller gift than most people generally give to public radio stations. We write more about this here: http://www.publicradioplayer.org/?p=1509
Charles
2 years ago
Why not take the approach The Phillips Collection has in its recently released app (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-phillips-collection/id402056956?mt=8)? In the app there is an icon for “Donate” which tapping takes the user to a screen which provides directions and a link for donating $5 or $10 via a text through “Give by Cell” (http://www.givebycell.com/). Seems like something similar could be added to each page on the Public Radio Player.