What impact can text-to-give have on your fundraising? The text-to-give campaign that the Red Cross ran is a brilliant example of how text-giving services have helped many charities to thrive in recent years. Their Haiti earthquake relief text-to-give fundraiser raised over $32 million in just a few months. And this was back in 2010 when we were not as dependent on mobile devices as we are now.
Today, with roughly 93% of the global population accessing the internet via mobile devices, it can be difficult to walk down the street without seeing someone with a smartphone in their hands.
Due to this, text-to-give has become an even more effective and important part of any fundraising strategy.
But what exactly is text-to-give? What are the benefits of text giving and why should you include it in your fundraising strategy?
What Is Text-to-Give?
Text-to-give is a popular fundraising technique that allows donors to give to nonprofits from their mobile phones.
Once a donor is registered, text-to-give is relatively quick and easy. Donors can simply text in a donation to your dedicated donation number during the middle of a dinner, when they’re sitting at their desk at work, or from their church pew. Wherever a donor has access to cell service, they can quickly make a donation. (This is especially great during fundraising events!)
8 Reasons You Need Text-to-Give In Your Fundraising Strategy
As more nonprofits adapt to newer technologies, such as social media and artificial intelligence (AI), yours can’t afford to lag behind. Here are eight reasons you need text-to-give in your fundraising strategy:
1. It’s Quick and Easy
Text-to-give is an easy way for donors to make a donation on the go. They can text at any time of day from their phone, which means that they don’t always need to visit a web page or fill out a full form to give. Once a donor is registered, all they need to do is text in a donation amount.
2. It Works Well with Event Fundraisers
While text giving works well as its own fundraising strategy, it can work even better when integrated with fundraising events—even virtual ones!
Using text-to-give during events is a great way to increase your visibility and promote your organization at the same time. Many organizations use this tactic during fundraising events, such as galas or festivals. Churches and other religious organizations can also use text-to-give information on their screens during regular services and even potluck dinners.
As your donors text their donations in throughout the event, it will be tracked in real-time on a text-to-give donation thermometer. You just need to enable the progress goal bar on your text-to-give donation forms.
This is great because not only are attendees able to donate on the spot, but also at any time after the event has concluded.
3. It’s Great for Areas with Less Internet Access
When supporters text in a donation, it’s sent directly to your organization through text message. That means there’s no internet connection necessary for the transaction—only for the initial setup.
Your nonprofit can use text-to-give as an effective tool to get donors who may otherwise lack easy access to the internet involved in your fundraising efforts.
For example, text-to-give is ideal for less developed countries where people may need to conserve their data by giving through SMS. It’s also useful for disaster relief efforts, like a hurricane, where donations can be texted even if all communication infrastructures have been damaged. Of course, donors either need to have a profile already set up or they need to find some internet access to complete their first donation, but this method of giving is easiest for those with low internet connectivity.
4. It’s Low Cost
By utilizing text-to-give in your fundraising strategy, you’ll be able to collect more donations without breaking the bank.
Sending SMS messages tends to cost less than making phone calls or using automated voice systems that interact with callers without a real human on the line. That means that text giving can save you money as well as make it easier to reach your fundraising goals.
For example, the GiveWP Text-to-Give add-on is powered by Stripe and Twillio through the free GiveWP donation plugin.
At the time of writing, Twillio has a monthly cost of only $1 per phone number and $0.0075 per SMS message for both sending and receiving.
To give you a much clearer idea, a donor typically uses 4 SMS messages to make a donation—their donation amount, your request for confirmation, their confirmation, and your thank you text.
5. It’s Easy to Manage and Track
In a world that moves extremely fast, both for-profit and nonprofit organizations are always looking for ways to increase efficiency—from using automation to send handwritten donor thank you notes and increasing web traffic to writing blog posts faster with AI.
Since text-to-give messages are sent through automated systems, there’s very little human involvement required for text-to-give campaigns. However, you can still give your donors the feeling of a warm thank you through something like a handwritten note that you’ve automated in reply to a donation.
6. It Encourages Donors to Give
Text-to-give allows donors the opportunity to text in their donation from anywhere, which is especially appealing for younger generations and millennials. With text giving, your organization can ensure that you will reach more potential donors than ever before.
And text-to-give is nearly instant, so it’s easier for donors to make small donations. This is great for younger generations that want to make a difference but might not have a large budget yet.
The more small donations you receive, the more likely your organization will reach its fundraising goals.
7. It’s Secure
Text-to-give fundraising campaigns are safe and secure for both organizations and donors.
Text payment systems tend to be highly encrypted, so text messages can’t be stolen from your organization by hackers or scammers. These messages are sent directly from supporters’ phones to your organization’s text donation system, which means there’s no way for them to go astray or your supporters’ numbers to be given out publicly.
Additionally, third-party providers must maintain compliance with standards outlined by the Payment Card Industry (PCI Compliance).
8. It’s Easy for Organizations to Get Involved
Nonprofits have a lot on their plates—after all, saving the world is not an easy task. The last thing you want is to have your nonprofit spend a large amount of time setting up a new service.
The good news is, getting started with text-to-give is pretty simple, and once it’s set up you don’t need to do it again.
For example, with GiveWP, to set it up you have to get the Text-to-Give add-on, sign up for Twillio, connect to Twillio, customize the settings to your fundraising needs, designate your donation form for text-giving, and publish to start fundraising.
Get Started With Text-to-Give
Text-to-give is the best way for donors to give from anywhere. With the GiveWP Text-to-Give add-on, users can quickly and easily donate via SMS message from any mobile device.
It’s convenient and secure—all that’s needed is a phone number. Best of all, giving again is as simple as sending another text message with any amount.
GiveWP’s platform makes it easy for nonprofits like yours to raise more money online without sacrificing security or convenience!
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