[ti:Salvation Army Now Accepting Mobile Donations] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.12]Carolyn Harper made her appeal for donations to the Salvation Army [00:06.44]with a smile on her face and a bell in her hand. [00:11.96]But several people apologized to Harper [00:15.68]and said they did not have cash to drop into the large red container. [00:23.00]Most walked past her before she could explain that the Salvation Army [00:29.12]no longer depends only on cash donations. [00:34.96]Now, Americans who want to give money to the aid group can just use their smartphone. [00:43.92]Heather Bishop was among those who did wait to hear about the non-cash payment system. [00:52.08]She completed her electronic donation while keeping a close watch on her two young children. [01:00.68]"It was fast, very easy," Bishop said. "All of my giving is online." [01:08.92]Salvation Army officials hope that adding online donation options [01:14.60]will help the group's effort to raise money. [01:18.84]The Salvation Army reports that the red kettle campaign [01:23.88]is responsible for 10 percent of all donations collected each year. [01:31.24]The money is used to provide housing, food and other support for needy Americans. [01:40.84]"Those red kettle campaign funds help us throughout the entire year [01:47.04]housing the homeless, feeding the hungry and helping families [01:52.96]overcome poverty," said Dale Bannon. [01:58.48]He is the assistant national community relations director for Salvation Army USA. [02:07.64]"I think the future is bright, but we have to...provide [02:13.00]multiple options for people to give," Bannon said. [02:19.60]Americans' use of cash to buy things has decreased over time, [02:26.00]notes the Pew Research Center. [02:29.92]It found that about 46 percent of Americans "don't really worry much" about leaving home [02:38.36]without cash because they use credit cards or other forms of payment. [02:46.44]As a result, not-for-profits organizations have increased their online fundraising efforts. [02:54.84]But campaigns that are made of mostly spur-of-the-moment donations outside stores [03:02.76]feel the effects of an increasingly cashless society. [03:09.48]The Salvation Army has tested other cashless systems before, [03:14.96]but they take up time and are not as easy as simply dropping money into the red kettles. [03:24.40]Donors want "an easy and quick" way, Bannon said. [03:30.64]So, the Salvation Army has placed a tag containing a microchip on its kettles. [03:39.52]Donors can tap their phone on the tag and write in the amount they want to donate. [03:48.00]Not all phones work. [03:50.84]Some people can use their phone's camera need to take a picture of the QR code, [03:58.12]which connects them with a donation form. [04:03.32]Any mobile donations are sent to the Salvation Army office that is nearest to the donor's home. [04:12.16]This year marks the Salvation Army's 129th red kettle fundraising campaign. [04:21.68]The group hopes to collect $150 million in donations. [04:29.04]Bannon said there is a processing charge for mobile donations, [04:34.84]which is between 2 and 2.5 percent. [04:39.80]Carolyn Harper said she hopes the new systems [04:44.88]will increase donations to the Salvation Army. [04:49.24]Her only concern is the cold weather in Chicago and other parts of the country. [04:56.96]She said the weather could prevent people from stopping to use the mobile system. [05:04.56]"Right now, it's easy," she said. "Hopefully it works out when it's really cold out." [05:13.80]I'm Anne Ball. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM