Verizon Wireless

Small charities will now get more opportunities to conduct low-cost fundraising efforts by text message under a deal announced Tuesday. But they’ll have to do so under new guidelines designed to prevent fraud.

A deal between the Mobile Giving Foundation, which connects charities to mobile carriers, and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, a nonprofit connected with the Council of Better Business Bureaus, seeks to assure donors that their $5 to $10 text donations will go to trustworthy charities.

Verizon has extended the deadline by a week for New Jersey nonprofit organizations to submit proposals for grants ranging from $1,000 to $25,000 from the Verizon Foundation to support literacy programs across underserved communities in the Garden State. The new deadline is June 17.

The foundation will award grants to agencies that develop programs that are focused on building reading skills for children, teens and adults and incorporate technology through computer and Web-based literacy programs for minority and disabled residents in low-income communities across the state.

Thanks to the generosity of Verizon customers in Virginia who participated in the company's Check Into Literacy program, 32 literacy-focused nonprofit organizations throughout the commonwealth received grants totaling $45,787.

The Check Into Literacy program allows Verizon landline telephone customers to support literacy by checking a box on their monthly phone bills to make a $1 tax-deductible donation to promote literacy.  Verizon then distributes these donations to local literacy organizations that serve the individual states in which the customers live.

A dollar a month may not seem like much, but it can go a long way to improving literacy skills in communities across New Jersey while also giving people the opportunity to succeed. Thanks to the generosity of Verizon customers in New Jersey who participated in the company's Check Into Literacy program, 51 nonprofit organizations throughout the state received $250,000 in grants to support literacy programs.

NEW YORK, August  27, 2009 — Verizon employees across the country have collected more than $500,000 worth of back-to-school supplies to assist schools and nonprofit organizations. The volunteers participated in a three-week Tools for School campaign to collect new and gently used rulers, crayons, backpacks and other items children need to start the school year.

NEW YORK, August 18, 2009 — The Verizon Foundation has awarded a $15,000 grant to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) to support students enrolled in its professional development workshops and after-school program. Verizon has also provided an additional $10,000 to support BAM’s Spring Gala.

NEW YORK, June 23, 2009 — Verizon's latest corporate responsibility report highlights how the company is using its technology, resources and employees to address societal challenges such as improving health care, increasing energy efficiency and conservation, and playing a role in the recovery of the nation's economy.

IRVINE, Calif., June 2, 2009 — Billabong USA is proud to announce the highly acclaimed alt-rockers The Airborne Toxic Event and indie pop stars Iglu & Hartly will perform live at the 3rd Annual Design For Humanity event on June 17, 2009 at Avalon/Bardot in Hollywood. Design for Humanity, Billabong's charitable initiative, will benefit charity: water (charitywater.org), a non-profit organization that works to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. One hundred percent of ticket sale proceeds will go to charity: water.

The Verizon Foundation is helping Massachusetts public schools better prepare students to succeed in the 21st century. Amid the increased focus on student achievement, public schools across Massachusetts are invited to apply for grants that use the Verizon Foundation's Thinkfinity.org, an online education resource, to improve student learning.

Hundreds of nonprofit groups in Massachusetts received nearly $4.1 million from the Verizon Foundation in 2008, enabling the organizations to improve literacy skills, create new and diverse approaches to technology-based education, and help domestic violence victims rebuild their lives.