Text Messaging for Nonprofits

Ensure your supporters receive every update you send with a text messaging service that will strengthen your nonprofit’s fundraising and communications throughout the year.

Of course, smartphones have fundamentally changed the way donors live, work and play

Smartphones are the most personal and ubiquitous type of device. Everywhere you look, people are constantly on their mobile phone for work and play. Understanding best practices, statistics and how mobile communication can strengthen fundraising is essential for nonprofit organizations.

It is very important to diligently collect mobile phone numbers from donors and supporters because a person’s mobile number is the communication anchor that keeps nonprofit organizations connected to individuals from decade to decade. Mobile phone numbers rarely change!

Every year more donors and supporters:

• Move from place to place which negatively affects your direct mail campaigns
• Cancel their home phone service which reduces your phonathon effectiveness
• Change email addresses which hampers your email reach

Bottom line:
If you want to ensure your content is seen by supporters, you need to text them. Videos, pictures and stories that are cross promoted over mass text messages, email and social media yield the highest response rates because they reach across a wide rage of demographics.

Know the Numbers

Over the last 15 years, mobile has become an increasingly essential component of fundraising. The statistics below show how mass text messages from nonprofits are the gold standard for connecting donors to the causes they care about.

• 90% of people read text messages within the first 3 minutes
• The average American checks their phone over 85 times per day
• 90% of Americans own a cellphone, 68% own a smartphone
• 41% of U.S households are cell phone only without a traditional land-line
• 99% of text messages are read (compared to only 14% of emails)
• 70% of donors report that texts are a good way for nonprofits to get their attention
• 62% of donors report they would like to use text to communicate with organizations

The Text Messaging Phenomenon

Text message keywords and communications help increase response rates for everything in your nonprofit organization.

The first text message was sent in 1992 and read “Merry Christmas.” In 2016 more than 8 trillion texts have been sent.

On average, Americans send and receive 32 texts per day (950/month or 11,520/year).

In the last 20 years text messaging has become the most popular form of communication in the world. Unlike voicemails, emails, and social media posts, text messages guarantee that your message is seen.

81% of Americans text regularly and text twice as much as they call.

Anyone who texts your text message keyword to a shortcode is automatically subscribed to receive ongoing text message reminders and updates from your organization.

76% of supporters appreciate text message reminders and updates from nonprofit organizations. Those that choose not to receive future messages can unsubscribe instantly by conveniently replying STOP. If they want to resubscribe they can simply text any of your keywords to be automatically resubscribed to your list.

There is a special provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act that allows nonprofits to upload lists of supporter phone numbers and send them text message updates, making it easy for you to get started in sending text messages to your constituents!

How To Build Your Mobile Subscription List

In order to send out text messages, first you need to set up a text messaging service for nonprofits like GiveSmart to enable your organization to send mass text messages to your supporters.

Once you have this set up you’ll want to collect mobile numbers any time you can. Without cell phone numbers your mobile marketing campaign will not work because you will have no one to send to, so be sure to ask at every point of contact.

Upload a list: Upload all phone numbers from your existing database for mobile number validation and send a subscription notification text message.

Update your forms: Add “Mobile Phone Number” to all digital and paper forms for future collection and upload.

Send a text: The first text message you send should contain a link to a short personal video telling subscribers about your mission and thanking them for their support.

• Promote subscriptions at live events by giving verbal instructions to text your subscription keyword.

• Incentivize new subscriptions. Examples: text to win, text to enter a raffle or drawing, text to see videos, text to get exclusive downloads.

• Promote subscriptions via email blasts, print newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, other social media, print materials, paid media and signage.

• Promote your subscription keyword in a graphic on Instagram, Facebook and other social media channels.

• Promote mobile subscriptions in videos by inserting text instructions to subscribe.

Tip:

Put yourself in the constituents’ shoes and offer a compelling reason to get text messages that will appeal to that group of people. You may want to segment donors by age, income level, and any other segmented data you may have.