FrontlineSMS is the first text messaging system to be conceived, designed and written firmly with the needs of the non-profit sector in mind. Until now, the majority of systems have not taken into account the nature of non-profit work, and the specific conditions (financial and physical) which many work under.

The FrontlineSMS software is provided free to charities and other non-profit organisations. The software can be downloaded from the Download menu but requires activation before messages can be sent or received. Details on how to obtain activation codes are provided.

The FrontlineSMS success story has been cited in numerous NGO and industry research papers, websites, news sites and publications since 2005. It was short listed in the Mobile Messaging Awards 2007, named WSIS "ICT Success Story of the Month" for its use in monitoring the Nigerian elections, and attracted considerable funding from the MacArthur Foundation. A new version is currently being developed at Stanford University and will be released, along with a new FrontlineSMS web portal, in the spring of 2008.

FrontlineSMS has been successfully deployed in over forty countries in many areas by grassroots NGOs including the Nigerian and Philippine elections, in the sending of security alerts to fieldworkers in Afghanistan, market prices to smallholder farmers in Aceh, and to circumvent government restrictions in countries including Zimbabwe and Pakistan.

So, what can FrontlineSMS do for me?

Are you a locally- or internationally-based NGO looking at the potential to use mobile phone text messages to reach specific groups of individuals within a target community? Or to run an awareness raising campaign? Or to run a competition, or carry out a text-based survey? Or to simply keep in touch with your fieldworkers?

Do you want to provide text-based information services such as bus times, prices, goods availability etc?

If you have already identified applications for text messaging within your non-profit organisation and are looking for a simple, comprehensive, affordable and complete entry-level system then you're in the right place. If you think text messaging could work for you but don't know where to start, and are looking to try a service without having to dig too deep into your pockets, then you're also in the right place.

Welcome to the complete text messaging solution for the non-profit sector. Welcome to FrontlineSMS:

> Create and manage all of your SMS-related contact groups
> Send and receive messages via special on-screen consoles
> Handles flash messages and long messages up to 320 characters in length
> Provides incoming and outgoing message history for each contact
> Engage with your contact groups - run surveys, competitions etc. via the Survey Manager
> Run your own text-based information service via the automated Reply Manager
> Export data to Excel
> No need to be on-line - works on any GSM network via your own PC or laptop

FrontlineSMS around the world

In the first two years since its release, FrontlineSMS has been used by NGOs in 41 countries for a wide range of activities including blood donor recruitment and assisting human rights workers, to promoting government accountability, keeping medical students informed about education options, providing security alerts to field workers, election monitoring, the capture and exchange of vegetable (and coffee) price information, the distribution of weather forecasts, the co-ordination of healthcare workers, the organising of political demonstrations, the carrying out of surveys and the reporting and monitoring of disease outbreaks. In some countries, the software is in use by multiple NGOs reflecting in its use in over 60 activities, some of which are listed above.

For further, in-depth details about the software, go to the About FrontlineSMS section. If you want to stay connected, click to join the FrontlineSMS Supporters Group on Facebook!

A two-page FrontlineSMS summary, based on the information provided on this website, is available by clicking here (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)