Second in a series
As the event industry adapts to the suspension of in-person gatherings, including fundraising galas and auctions, it is paramount for nonprofits to devise ways to continue to solicit donations from their stakeholders. Today, this has gained increased urgency as in-person fundraising events are not feasible, and nonprofits’ funds could be running low. Virtual events are being pursued rigorously by many nonprofit organizations. One effective tool to continue to solicit donations is what is called “text to donate.” Text to donate can be a very successful tool to collect donations in the Covid-19 era and beyond.
Text to donate is an effective mobile fundraising tool to solicit funds using donors’ mobile devices—mostly cell phones. Research has shown that unlike e-mails or even personalized postal mail, text messages have a very high open rate—of approximately 99%--which make them a great medium for communication with an organization’s stakeholders. This enviable open rate offers nonprofits a unique opportunity to reach a much larger pool of donors. An advantage of text to donate is that it can be used at a virtual fundraising event or for on-going fundraising purposes.
Here are some of the benefits of text to donate as a fundraising tool:
Increased Participation: As indicated above, text messages enjoy very high open rate making them a very effective tool to reach potential donors and improve the success rate of a fundraising campaign.
Valuable Data: Text to donate provides the organization with valuable contact and financial information of donors (name, address, credit card details, etc.). This is prized asset for a nonprofit for future outreach campaigns.
Discrete: Text to donate allows for donors’ information including their donation amounts to remain confidential thus providing them with an incentive to take part even with smaller donation amounts.
Instant Payment Collection: Text to donate provides the nonprofit with near-instant cash from the proceeds of donations thus allowing the organization to get access to much needed funds very quickly.
Easy Follow-up: With all of donors’ data readily available, sending thank-you notes, follow-up messages or receipts become a lot easier and can be accomplished far timelier. Furthermore, the organization can custom tailor its outgoing message depending on who the donors were.
To be successful as a fundraising tool, text to donate should meet some basic criteria:
Keyword: To be effective, text messages must have a catchy keyword to improve their open rate. Creativity is key here. Try to capitalize on the organization’s mission or trademark or other name recognition elements. Don’t underestimate the power of association.
Layout: The design of the page is very important. It should capture both factual information as well as branding elements. The layout should also incorporate all the needed information—especially, the number to be dialed to make donations. If the text to donate is being used at a virtual or in-person event, the layout should be formatted for various devices such as tablets, etc. and for display at the event.
Social Media Campaign: Today, social media platforms play an important role in information propagation. Social media can be a goldmine in getting the word out about the event and how to make donations using text to donate—for both attendees at an event or for reaching out the larger universe of donors. Today, with the sharing features of most social media platforms, the organization’s message can be rebroadcast to a much larger audience without much effort on the part of the nonprofit.
Mail Outreach: E-mail and postal mail continue to offer alternative vehicles for reaching out donors. Mail outreach provides an opportunity to the organization to get the word out about an upcoming fundraising event or alerting/guiding them to register for a fundraiser.
These unsettled times are particularly challenging for some nonprofits. The inability not to be able to hold important in-person fundraising events has been very hard on the finances of many nonprofits. Any novel ideas to generate badly-needed funds is welcome. Text to donate, as part of a virtual fundraising event or independent of one can offer the nonprofit an innovation tool to continue to solicit donations. If done right, text to donate can be a very successful vehicle not only to raise funds but also as a valuable branding tool.
For help with your next fundraising campaign or to devise a text to donate platform, reach out to the professionals at Your Great Event.