Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

T-Mobile wants to keep the giving theme going this holiday season

T-Mobile is matching the value of donated phones and tablets to benefit charity

Lulu Chang
By

t mobile record revenue
As the holiday season approaches, so too does the most generous time of year. On November 28, generous and socially minded companies and individuals the world over participated in #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving. And to help everyone give just a little more, T-Mobile, set aside $2 million to be donated to nonprofits selected by its users. But while the giving day has come and gone, T-Mobile is continuing in the spirit of generosity, and is now encouraging folks to recycle their old phones and tablets at local T-Mobile stores, where all donations will be matched.

From December 1 to the end of the year, folks who recycle phones or tablets will have their impact doubled, as the Un-carrier promises to match the recycled value of donated devices, and send the proceeds to Feeding America and Team Rubicon.

Related Videos

The Bellevue, Washington-based carrier is pledging a minimum matching donation of $1,000,000 to be split equally between the two charities, said to be enough to buy five million meals and deploy 5,000 veterans to serve in disaster-afflicted areas.

Related

This initiative builds off of #GivingTuesday 2017, when T-Mobile leveraged its perennially popular T-Mobile Tuesdays app to give customers $2 not to spend at Dunkin Donuts, Panda Express, or one of the other retailers often found on the platform, but rather to donate. Folks with the T-Mobile Tuesdays app were able to give that money to one of four charities — the American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Club of America, Feeding America, or Team Rubicon.

T-Mobile’s offer wasn’t limited to T-Mobile customers. In fact, anytime anyone tweeted #GivingTWOgether on November 28, the Bellevue, Washington-based carrier pledged to donate yet another $2 to be split evenly among each of the four charities, up to $100,000. And those part of the T-Mobile payroll found an extra $28 in their Giving Accounts on the morning of November 28 that could be donated to any charity.

“This has been a tough year for so many, and on this #GivingTuesday, you get to give back the way that matters most to you,” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile.

So what did your $2 donation do? If you selected the Boys & Girls Club of America, your generosity will help provide 40 minutes of homework support to after-school youth. Meanwhile, $2 given to the American Red Cross will result in a comfort kit to someone impacted by a disaster, whereas a donation to Feeding America promises to allow food to be distributed to a family in need. And finally, Team Rubicon will use the donations that it receives to give clean water filtration kits to families affected by a natural disaster.

Update: T-Mobile promises to match the value of donated phones and tablets to benefit Feeding America and Team Rubicon. 

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
OnePlus 10T pre-orders go live in the U.S., and with a big 5G fix
Back of the OnePlus 10T.

Hot off the heels of its Asian and European launches, the OnePlus 10T is finally coming to North America, and with one major upgrade: 5G support with AT&T. For the first time on a OnePlus device, the OnePlus 10T will be fully compatible with AT&T 5G and 4G LTE networks, compared to previous handsets that only had LTE support on AT&T.

While the specs of OnePlus devices have always been impressive, especially so with the 10T, their recent reliance on LTE and other slower connections for AT&T customers has made them somewhat difficult to recommend. Now that users are able to make the most of 5G internet speeds, however, the 10T is more enticing than before.

Read more
HMD Global wants you to keep your new Nokia phone and save the planet
All the devices included in HMD Global's new Circular plan.

HMD Global, the company that owns the license to make Nokia phones, is introducing a selection of new phones. And alongside those phones, there's also a new way to purchase one of them to encourage you to keep it for longer than usual. That’s right, HMD Global doesn’t want you to keep upgrading your phone, an unusual strategy for any phone maker.
Nokia's plan to 'redefine phone ownership'
The new way to buy and keep your phone is called Circular, and it will “redefine phone ownership,” according to HMD Global. So what’s it all about? On the surface, it’s a simple phone leasing service, where you sign up with the company and pay monthly for your new Nokia phone. It’s a fixed contract for just three months, then you’re free to cancel, continue, or upgrade when you want. But don't do that, because Circular is all about keeping your phone.

What makes it different from the rest is that HMD Global will reward you for keeping your phone, but not through free gifts or a break on your monthly payments. Instead, you earn virtual credits called Seed of Tomorrow (yes, really) to invest in a set of curated environmentally aware causes. The longer you keep your phone, the more seeds you get, and the more causes you can support. Unconnected, Ecologi, and Clear Rivers are the names already onboard.

Read more
T-Mobile adding a free year of Apple TV+ to its most expensive plans
Apple TV icon on Apple TV.

T-Mobile today announced that it's giving subscribers to its most expensive mobile plan a free subscription to Apple TV+, which normally costs $60 a year. Those who are subscribed to the Magenta Max plan — which costs $85 a month for a single line — will get Apple's streaming service for free. If you've got T-Mobile's Magenta plan, which costs $70 a month for one line, you'll get six months of Apple TV+ for free.

The perk takes effect on August 31, 2022, and it's good for the foreseeable future. (A previous version of this story stated it was just for one year, but that's legacy copy on T-Mobile's website for the old perk that's being supplanted.)

Read more