I was more curious about the business of the middleman in this process, and I looked into it earlier today. This particular short code operator, mGive (<a href="http://www.mgive.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.mgive.com/</a>) focuses on charities and was launched 2 years ago. I'm guessing this is their first big exposure.<p>Wikipedia has the basics of setting up a new short code: "Common short codes in the U.S. are administered by NeuStar, under a deal with Common Short Code Administration - CTIA. Short codes can be leased at the rate of $1000 a month for a selected code or $500 for a random code." (from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_code" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_code</a>)<p>More info here: <a href="http://www.mmaglobal.com/shortcodeprimer.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.mmaglobal.com/shortcodeprimer.pdf</a>