Copyright: bialasiewicz / 123RF Stock Photo
A group text service is a spotlight tool for donations, and businesses and non-profits alike are utilizing mobile to fuel funding. Group texts open the door to long-term offers, repeat visitors and continuous success. In 2016, professional entities are basing entire business platforms around SMS-based donation options. SMS appeals to many age brackets, and it outpaces online donor acquisition by a three-to-one factor.
If you can understand the SMS donation baseline, your platform is in for a treat. Getting donations for your cause isn’t hard when all of the bases are covered, and it’s incredibly easy to supply your fans with the feedback and support they deserve from any quality brand or nonprofit.
SMS Donation Services: An Interactive Fundraiser Tool
SMS donation services, at their core, are a “giving” approach to gathering. By channeling gained donations into community projects, charities or nonprofit growth, your entity can ensure an ongoing support channel. Typically, SMS-enabled donation services rely on mobile marketing mechanics to thrive. Your entity’s active participants can integrate seamlessly with your platform, engaging in a fundraising tool fit for all.
Interactive services engage volunteers and donors on a real-time basis, so your brand is never forgotten. Whether you’re targeting individuals with daily alerts, sensitive news or invitations, SMS is the way to go. SMS donation services are quickly becoming the baseline for participation, attendance and loyalty initiatives.
How Do I Get More Donations for My Cause?
Once you’ve established your providing platform, you’ll need to inject it with utility to encourage participation. Sure, your SMS subscribers will donate on principal, but your SMS donation tool will come with a few options capable of skyrocketing donation amounts.
User Views
Take note of your automated SMS service’s user viewing tools. In doing so, you can find out who donates. You can also find out when they donate. Examine your donation platform’s trends, and pinpoint successful engagements. Similarly, take charge with auto-responder tools when active donators are giving regular feedback.
Keyword-Centric Tools
While your donators aren’t taking part in a mass-market SEO initiative, they’ll still respond to keywords. Mobile users react quickly, and they react to calls-to-action, too. By implementing short keywords, your platform can become as impactful, if not more impactful, than leading social media, email and search marketing campaigns.
Engage Cross-Channel Promotion
Did you know your SMS donation platform has cross-channel accessibility? Don’t be afraid to reach out into your entity’s mobile app. Don’t be afraid to link your Facebook page. Connect to LinkedIn, and power donations through a YouTube multimedia strategy capable of breaking the barriers.
What No One Is Telling You About Mobile Fundraising
It’s important, too, to know what does and doesn’t work. To succeed in mobile fundraising, you need to avoid the pitfalls of your industry.
You Need Two Options: “Give” and “Donate”
That’s right: It isn’t enough to simply offer a simple “donate here” option. Create a separate “give” option for big events and special options. In doing so, you can segment your consumer base’s most-active donators. Meanwhile, your mobile “donate” option should be reserved for quick, mass-audience donations.
You Need to Secure Successful Donators
More importantly, you need to attract them to your online presence. Instead of making direct donation requests with successful donators, you should increase engagement via a mobile website service. Repeat donators, eventually, tire of repeat text-here-to-donate options. Create a sign-up-to-donate-often option.
You Need to Build an Email List
While SMS-powered donations work wonders, email lists secure an audience for long-form content. Consumers like texts because they’re simple, easily digestible and quick. Eventually, your platform will need a medium for long-form content. Don’t neglect email.
The Solutions: Creative Mobile Fundraising Strategies
In 2016, creativity is key. Your donation platform can’t survive by being “normal,” and the following strategies guarantee a boost in numbers, no matter the industry:
Go Peer-to-Peer with Facebook
Facebook remains one of the world’s hottest fundraising attachments. In fact, multiple-channel fundraising strategies between online and offline users increase results by three-hundred percent. When implementing Facebook as a tool, however, you’ll need to encourage peer-to-peer donations.
Go with the End-of-Year Push
End-of-Year fundraising, too, is incredibly powerful. Target loyal donators with end-of-year offers and high-donation rewards. You’ll be surprised at the potency of a nonprofit push at the end of an annual cycle. End your year with a bang.
Partnering Up: Why You Need a Business to Boost Donations
At the end of the day, a donation platform is only as good as its resources. By partnering up with a business, you can increase your donation funnel enough for both your goals and service payments. All too often, nonprofits stray away from business interaction. They fear payments they can’t afford.
That said, a business’s donation-boosting capabilities are unparalleled. By partnering with an SMS tool provider, your nonprofit can enhance its outreach viability to the point of fiscally supporting both ends. Check out your provider’s options today, and bolster your plan for the new year.