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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 (http://www.mgive.com/) focuses on charities and was launched 2 years ago. I'm guessing this is their first big exposure.

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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_code)

More info here: http://www.mmaglobal.com/shortcodeprimer.pdf

I'm pretty sure "text FOO to ##### to give $n" has been done before, I think as far back as Katrina.

It's about 2 years old. It's regulated by the Mobile Giving Foundation - http://mobilegiving.org/ The interesting thing here is that the carriers have agreed to pass your full donation amount to the charity, they don't take a cut.

Wikipedia used this to raise donations for development on their new mobile friendly site. I don't think it's a new/"untapped" type thing.