Text To Donate: How Does It Work, And Why Should Nonprofits Use It?
As the number of people who own smartphones has increased, they have become an important tool for expanding donation options. Some organizations even prefer it to other forms of donor stewardship. Text to donate leverages mobile devices for fundraising purposes. If you have never used text to donate, this article will bring you up to speed.
What is Text to Donate?
Text to donate is a form of donor solicitation that uses text messaging to reach potential donors. The process starts by reaching donors and asking them to text a certain word to a number. Doing so triggers a response that invites the recipient to donate through a provided link. The link will usually direct the donor to a mobile-friendly page where they can enter their details to complete the donation.
To reach even more donors, nonprofits and other organizations use various tools to help them out. These include software such as the SMS software from Tatango that works great for nonprofits and political campaigns and other platforms tailored to different types of organizations. These software and platforms also allow integration with other services to allow organizations to get started quickly with their SMS campaigns.
Why Nonprofits Should Use Text to Donate
One of the main reasons for using text to donate is that it helps nonprofits tell their stories thus helping convince donors. Text messages are a poor medium for donations because they do not leave enough room for a nonprofit to tell its story and convince donors.
Text to donate messages, on the other hand, contain links that allow nonprofits to present themselves in the best way possible. By allowing nonprofits to form personal connections with their donors, text to donate can help nonprofits build long-term relationships with their donors.
Options for Higher Donations and Recurring Giving
The links included in the text to donate messages take donors to open pages that allow them to donate a fixed amount or as much as they like. By doing this, nonprofits can increase their average contributions especially if they have a good relationship with their donors already.
Donors can also choose to make recurring donations. This can be through the form of texting back the amount they wish to donate and the period they wish to donate for. Doing this means a nonprofit can ensure long-term donation from interacting with a donor once. This leads to a very high return on investment, a significant advantage of using text to donate.
Giving During Events
Events are a great time to use text to donate. Nonprofits can give donors a keyword to text during an event so they can start the donation process. They can then make popular payment options available so that the process is as smooth as possible.
Text to donate also gives virtual attendees the opportunity to be a part of the event as they can donate from wherever they may be.
Text to donate is an incredibly powerful and cost-effective way for nonprofits to raise funds. The process is seamless and because it is opt-in, nonprofits know donors who participate are engaged. Forming long-term relationships with these donors becomes much easier afterward.
