Finding The Best Text-to-Donate Service for Nonprofits

Over 5 billion people around the world own a smartphone, and there’s no doubt that text messaging is the most accessed application for smartphone users. In fact, 97% of Americans send at least one text message a day.

Given that everyone is so much more active on their mobile devices, it’s no surprise that mobile giving has seen annual growth as big as 205% in recent years. Moreover, mobile devices account for over half of all visits to nonprofit websites. More importantly, about 25% of donors use that same mobile device to give.

So, what if you could give smartphone users an even more direct way of supporting your organization? That’s exactly what text-to-give is all about.

Why Use Text-to-Donate?

Without text-to-donate, the abundance of smartphones users interested in your nonprofit would have to venture to your website to learn more about you and, if inclined, send a donation. If you have a beautiful, fully-responsive website that looks great on any device (like you should), that may not seem like such a big deal, but it does add another step to the process.

As you probably already know, every step you add to an interaction reduces the number of people who finish. This is true whether that end goal is contacting you, donating, or subscribing to your newsletter. That’s where the power of text-to-give fundraising comes into play.

How Does Text-to-Donate Work?

With a text-to-give campaign, you’re greatly simplifying things for your donors by removing all the hoops they’d otherwise have to jump through. With a campaign running, smartphone users won’t have to visit your website and dig through it to find a donation form. Instead, they just have to text a memorable keyword to a short number (i.e., “shortcode”) and the process is complete.

For instance, your keyword might be GIVE10 and your text-to-donate number may be 55555. That means your donors just have to pull out the smartphone they already have in their pocket, open the text messaging app that they’re already highly familiar with, and type in “GIVE10” and send it to your shortcode.

Text-to-donate is an effortless, convenient process that removes hurdles and uncertainties. The keyword has already defined the amount they’re going to give (be it $5, $10, or $15) and the number they text is short and easy to remember. Once they send that message, they’ll either get a link texted to them that immediately opens a payment form so they can enter credit/debit card info or you can choose to send a payment link to their email.

However you choose to do it, statistics show that text-to-donate fundraising is highly effective. In fact, the average donation size for such a fundraiser is an astonishing $107.

The Benefits of Text-to-Donate for Your Nonprofit

Still on the fence about adding a text-to-donate software to your tech stack? These benefits may sway you.

• Quick Response: The average text message is opened within 90 seconds of receipt. That means your campaign gets noticed instantly.
• Low Cost: Most modern donation softwares allow you to add text-to-give functionality for an extremely low price. Others bundle it into their service.
• Sharability: With so much internet traffic coming from mobile devices, the sharability of a text-to-give campaign can mean higher donor engagement and even lead to the discovery of new donors.

Finding The Best Text-to-Donate Service

When it comes to actually running a text-to-donate campaign, one critical element is the software you intend to use. Here’s what goes into selecting one and some fundamental elements to consider.

Should I Get a Standalone Service?

Ideally, the text-to-donate service you select will integrate into your other donation software. That means it’s best to choose a donation software provider that offers text-to-donate alongside other forms of giving, like giving kiosks, mobile apps, and online forms.

If you chose a standalone service, you would find reporting to be disjointed and may run into issues when it comes to integrating the text-to-donate software with other software you use to manage your nonprofit’s finances.

How Much Should I Pay for Text-to-Donate?

Most donation service providers make text-to-donate an add-on to their base tiers because not all nonprofits are ready to use it and those that are know the value of it. Some platforms allow you to add text-to-donate capabilities for as little as $5 per month, but the cost varies based on many factors.

One primary factor is the size of the provider and the cost of the tier you’re already paying for. Here at DonorWerx, we offer text-to-donate fundraising for every tier alongside giving apps, kiosks, and forms and one-on-one coaching for your organization.

Where Can I Learn More About Text-to-Donate?

Before your organization makes any decision about the software you should purchase or how to go about running your first text-to-donate campaign, we highly recommend reaching out to our experienced team. Having worked alongside countless nonprofits like yours, we know the ins-and-outs of donor engagement and fundraising best practices.

If you’re new to the world of digital and text-based giving, schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call today. We’ll talk you through the process and benefits. And if you have any questions about the efficacy of text-to-donate and other methods, we can help. We’ll learn more about your organization so we can provide actionable strategies for your ministry. You can put these into place today to start getting better results.

Want us to prove it? Give us half an hour and we’ll help you increase donations by 10% in the next six months. Click here to book your call.