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Text-to-Give Fundraising: 8 Best Practices (Part 2)

text-to-give fundraising

By: Eric Griego, @Pay

As we promised last time around, we’re going to dive into the final four tips in the list of eight best practices.

Again, whether you’re a master mobile fundraiser or a novice in the whole text-to-give scene, this article should give you some actionable insight.

Without further ado, here are the last four best practices for text-to-give fundraising campaign: 

#5. Integrate With Your Email Newsletter.
#6. Promote Text-to-Give at Live Events.
#7. Divide & Grow™  With Prospect Research.
#8. Always, Always Thank Mobile Donors.

Let’s go ahead and get started with #5 out of eight. In case you missed the first four, you can take a look at it here.

#5. Integrate With Your Email Newsletter.

First of all, as far as ways to get the word out about any campaign go: email marketing is by far the most affordable.

At over 245 times less expensive than direct mail, email is the leading way for nonprofits to stay in touch with and inform their constituents.

That’s why it’s highly recommended that your nonprofit hop on the email train (if you haven’t already) when it comes to promoting your text-to-give fundraising campaign.

It’s not just about getting the word out about your text-to-give fundraising campaign, though.

It’s about integrating mobile giving into every aspect of your communications.

But how do you streamline your email and text donation options?

By integrating an email donation button that’s directly linked to your text-to-give fundraising campaign, of course.

If you haven’t heard of email donation buttons, they look like this:

text-to-give fundraising

All a donor needs to do to give to your organization is choose one of those buttons with the amount they’d like to give.

Whether that’s $20, $100, $250, or more.

Unlike with most online donation platforms that would force a donor to leave their email inbox to fill out payment info, next-gen providers allow donors to give in just 2-clicks.

Because these platforms are seamlessly integrated with every other mobile giving avenue, a donor would only have to input their info once.

From then on, they could give instantaneously without giving it a second thought.

Which means that as soon as you convince a number of your donors to give through your email newsletter, you’ll have a much easier time converting them to text-to-give supporters.

If you want more on how this works and how to amp up your current email strategy, be sure to check out @Pay’s guide to nonprofit email newsletters.

The point is: Fine-tuning your email strategy will help you not only to promote your text-to-give fundraising campaign, but it will also make the transition from online to text-to-give donating that much smoother for your donors.

#6. Promote Text-to-Give at Live Events.

While we’re on the subject of promotion, it only makes sense to talk about the peanut butter to text-to-give’s jelly: live events.

You read that right; texting to donate and live events are such a classic combination that they were practically made for one another.

In fact, the idea for texting to donate actually came out of a live event.

And now the best way to launch a text giving campaign is at a live fundraising event.

What are some of the best events to host when you want to promote your fundraiser?

There are actually tons of unique options for fundraising events that pair well with mobile giving.

Some of the best include:

  • Benefit concerts
  • 5K fun runs
  • Auctions
  • And galas.

Of course, there are dozens more that could mutually benefit from the integration of mobile giving. These are just the top 4 that have historically made the most impact.

What do these events all have in common?

For one thing: they’re all centered around the idea that everyone who’s there is there in solidarity or support.

That’s a pretty solid foot to start out on, if you ask us.

In addition to that automatic level of support and willingness to cooperate, live events like concerts and galas also allow nonprofits to take the stage (literally and figuratively) to express their passions and explain their text-to-give campaign.

So get up there, throw a presentation up on the projector, and start converting event attendees into your newest mobile donors, like so:

text-to-give fundraising

You may be surprised by how many new supporters you gain from your next event.
The point is: If you’re looking for a way to increase your donor acquisition rate while you promote your latest fundraising avenue, look no further than live events.

#7. Divide & Grow™ With Prospect Research.

One of the many benefits of text-to-give technology is that it endows nonprofits with a great deal of donor info.

Information like:

  • Name
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • Mailing address
  • Donation amount
  • Time of donation
  • And more.

What does one do with all of that useful information?

Conduct prospect research, of course!

Taking it upon yourselves to segment your new mobile donors and dig a little deeper into what makes them tick exemplifies Principle 6 of The Eight Principles of Sustainable Fundraising® Divide & Grow™.

According to Principle 6 of The Eight Principles, Divide & Grow™, the best and most sustainable programs grow from the development of meaningful relationships with supporters. Simply put it’s the principle of treating different donors differently.

And you only really get to build lasting relationships through getting to know more about each of your donors.

With prospect research, your nonprofit can look critically into: 

  • A donor’s past giving habits
  • Their association with you
  • Any wealth indicators
  • Philanthropic tendencies
  • Business affiliations
  • And any personal information that may be helpful.

The more you know about your donors, the better you’re able to cater to their needs, steward them, and possibly elicit a major gift out of them.

If you want more on this subject, take a look at Double the Donation’s tips for maximizing wealth screenings.

The point is: You can’t successfully grow your organization without first dividing (segmenting) them up and conducting proper prospect research.

#8. Always, Always Thank Mobile Donors.

The final tip is by far the easiest to follow.

Sadly, though, almost 40% of nonprofits still don’t send thank yous out to their donors.

It’s up to your organization to make the act of acknowledgement a priority.

Whether it’s just a simple “Thank you” text message or a well-thought-out letter, the way you thank your donors says something about your organization.

The secret to retaining donors is to make them feel as though they matter. And the truth is: they do matter!

Your donors are the backbone of your organization. They’re the reason that you’re able to continue the good work that you do.

Let them know that.

Studies have shown that the best time to do so is within 48 hours of the donation.

That being said, you can always send more than one acknowledgement. You can send a quick, automatic response via text or email and then follow up later with a heartfelt letter or phone call.

If you do that, you never have to sacrifice the quality or the expediency of your gratitude.

The point is: The way to keep text-to-give donors continuing to donate is to thank them sincerely and swiftly.

With these 8 tips under your belt, whether you’re an amateur or an expert, you’re bound to dazzle your donors.

You now know:

  • The importance of a quick thanks
  • How to find a major donor through texting
  • The way to increase your donor base with peer-to-peer
  • How to make the most of your email marketing
  • Where and when to promote text giving
  • And so much more!

Bon voyage, fundraisers! Best of luck with your text-to-give campaign!

text-to-give fundraising

Eric Griego is the Director of Business Development at @Pay, a simple and secure giving platform that provides donors a seamless way to give on a mobile device. He has implemented effective fundraising strategies for hundreds of nonprofit & church organizations.

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