In the park, at the bus stop, in line at a coffee shop – no matter where you go it’s likely that you’ll come face-to-face with a person on their cellphone texting away. Don’t believe us? In a study done in 2011, it was found that, on average, millennials received over 109 text messages per day – that equals out to more than 3,200 messages per month!
With so many messages traveling between senders, the majority of which are read within just minutes of being received, it’s obvious that texts are can be an effective way to reach those of your donors who are invested in your cause. If your nonprofit is interested in adding text giving to your e-giving services, take a look at the following pointers to get you headed in the right direction.
Gather Phone Numbers
In order for your text giving initiative to be successful, you need to have a bank of phone numbers that you can send your message out to. If your main form of correspondence with your donors is through email and social media and you haven’t compiled a phone number list just yet, it may be too soon to begin this avenue for your nonprofit. However, you can start by adding a widget to your website to gather phone numbers of those who choose to receive text updates. From there all you need is a little time and patience and you’ll be ready to go!
Avoid Oversaturation
The trick to a successful text giving campaign is insuring that you’re not bombarding your subscribers with too many text messages. It’s easy to say that a nonprofit should avoid sending too much correspondence in this manner, but where is the line drawn between gentle reminders and obtrusive texts? You want to make sure your nonprofit is communicating enough so that followers don’t forget you, but not so much that they feel driven to unsubscribe. Though this is largely a judgment call it’s important to bear in mind that you’re reaching out to members on their personal phones – how often would you want to be contacted?
Mix Up Your Message
Just because the goal of your text campaign is to raise money for your nonprofit doesn’t mean that no other messages can go out on that channel. If all your donors receive from you is a text invitation to give, chances are they will soon grow weary of reading your messages. For this reason, it’s important to send out little updates about your organization and the work that you’re doing. Keep the tone light and informative and you’ll be more likely to keep your subscribers interested.
Harnessing the power of text-messaging to your nonprofit’s advantage doesn’t have to be difficult with e-giving Powered By NCS Services. Spread the word to your most loyal donors effortlessly and see how it impacts your organization.
