Text-to-Give: New A2P 10DLC Regulations

Incorporating SMS in your fundraising efforts is a powerful way to increase revenue, but it only works if your messages go through! New A2P 10DLC regulations in the US are good for you and your donors because they crack down on SPAM texts. But if you don’t comply with registration requirements, you could find your campaigns blocked.

What is A2P 10DLC?

The mobile phone industry uses this term to describe text messages to and from an automated system using a 10-digit (US-based) phone number. A2P is short for “application-to-person,” as opposed to P2P (“person to person”). 10DLC refers to “10-digit long codes” to distinguish them from the “shortcodes” used in the past.

If you use systems like Twilio to text people in the US, then by definition, you’re using A2P 10DLC messaging. This means you must comply with the new regulations. And the sooner you register, the sooner you’ll raise money with SMS!

Benefits of Compliance

If you’re the sort of fundraiser who wants to nurture good relationships with your donors, then the A2P 10DLC regulations are good. The new measures are designed to reduce SPAM and fraudulent texts to your donors. This makes it more likely that your legitimate messages will get through.

Registering your brand provides better security for you and your donors. This is because a third-party Brand Identity Check will verify that you are who you say you are. Brands that cannot be verified won’t make it through the process. This protects your donors from fraud.

You can also expect that your deliverability rates will improve. This is because mobile carriers are implementing much stricter SPAM filtering mechanisms. Verified brands who have registered their campaigns are much more likely to get their messages through these filters.

Registering your dedicated phone number(s) also enhances brand integrity. Your phone numbers will build a reputation with the mobile carriers over time. And by using a consistent phone number to text your donors, you’re also building trust with them.

How to Register for A2P 10DLC

Registering for A2P 10DLC messaging is a straightforward process, complicated only by the fact that once you submit your registration, you’ll have to wait for approval.

Who Can Register?

Any brand or organization, regardless of what country you’re based in that sends messages via a 10-digit phone number to recipients in the United States can (and should!) register.

Basic Registration Process

If you’re using tools that rely on Twilio, such as the GiveWP Text-to-Give add-on, you can get started by signing into your Twilio account as an Owner or Admin user. From there, the process looks like this:

1. Create a Twilio Business Profile
2. Register your US A2P Brand and pay the one-time Brand registration fee
3. Register a Campaign for your fundraising efforts and select a use case
4. Associate a Twilio phone number with the Campaign.
5. Wait for the manual vetting process to complete. This can take several weeks.

Here are a few helpful tips:

• Gather this key information about your organization ahead of time. You’ll need it to create your Twilio Business Profile.
• You can speed up your approval by registering as a Low-Volume Standard Brand if you expect to send fewer than 6,000 messages daily.
• If your organization has 501(c)(3) status, you are eligible to register for the Charity / 501(c)(3) Nonprofit special use case, which results in lower fees.

Where to Learn More

For more detailed information about A2P 10DLC compliance, the GiveWP Text-to-Give add-on documentation includes a section on registering for A2P 10DLC messaging.

Twilio has also prepared a complete guide to A2P 10DLC registration process. It includes detailed, step-by-step instructions with screenshots.

Ignoring A2P 10DLC Registration Jeopardizes Your SMS Fundraising

On September 1, 2023, Twilio shut down all unregistered A2P 10DLC messaging via their platform to comply with the regulations. Even if you’ve used Twilio’s platform for SMS fundraising efforts in the past, your messages will be blocked until you complete the registration process. To complicate matters, the vetting process for applications is a manual one.

This means waiting until the last minute could come back to bite you. If your Giving Tuesday or year-end fundraising plans include Text-to-Give, then now is the time to submit your A2P 10DLC registration for your approval. Do it today! And while you’re waiting for approval, check out these critical SMS fundraising tips for success to level up your Text-to-Give results!