• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, October 25, 2012

The Federal Elections Commission in June for the first time allowed political campaigns to accept campaign contributions via text message. So what has that meant for the presidential campaigns?

According to a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 13% of all adults have donated to President Obama’s or Mitt Romney’s campaign in this year’s election. Within that 13%:

-67% donated in person, over the telephone, or through the mail

-50% donated online or via email

-10% donated by sending a text message from their cell phone or using a cell phone app

That translates into 1% of Americans making a contribution directly from their cell phone this election season. That compares to about 10% who have made a charitable donation of any kind via text messaging. The most prominent example of that was the Red Cross’ text-to-donate campaign for Haiti earthquake relief efforts in 2010.

The Pew study also found Democrats were much more likely to make mobile donations than Republicans, by 15% to 6%. Further, 57% of Democratic donors contributed online or via email compared with 34% of their Republican counterparts. However, there are no differences related to party affiliation when it comes to making a campaign contribution in general.