In today’s fast-paced and digital world, nonprofits face the ongoing challenge of securing consistent donations. While traditional fundraising methods have their place, the rise of mobile technology has opened up new avenues for nonprofits to engage with their supporters.
Recurring text donations are a particularly powerful method of giving. By simply sending a mobile-friendly link to your donation page, supporters can sign up to make their gift monthly and make a greater impact on your mission.
In this guide, we’ll explore four strategies for promoting recurring text donations. Whether you’re looking to diversify your fundraising revenue or simply make giving more enticing, these insights will help you achieve your goals.
1. Emphasize the benefits
The first step to building a recurring text-to-give program is to compile a contact list. Use an omni-channel marketing approach to promote your text messaging campaign to a wide audience and appeal to as many potential supporters as possible. For instance, you might mention text-to-give in your email newsletter and post about it on social media.
In your appeals to subscribe to your text-to-give campaign and join your recurring giving program, provide an overview of the benefits of recurring donations, including:
- Convenience: Recurring giving is a “set it and forget it” approach to the donation process. Rather than having to write checks or repeatedly provide their payment information, donors can give with just a few clicks on their mobile devices.
- Consistent impact: Donors who opt for recurring text donations have a consistent and sustained impact on the causes they care about. Their contributions will add up over time, making it easier for your nonprofit to plan and execute long-term projects.
- Exclusive incentives: Offer incentives to recurring text donors, such as access to special events, premiums, and personalized recognition. These perks will enhance the overall giving experience and make supporters feel valued.
Make sure to use clear calls to action (CTAs) after explaining these benefits. These CTAs should be concise, straight to the point, and closely tied to your nonprofit. For instance, an animal shelter might create a CTA in their email newsletter that says, “Subscribe to our text-to-give campaign to give animals a second chance!”
2. Make your appeal for monthly giving
Include a clear call to action in your text messages to make a monthly gift and ensure that the donation process is simple and straightforward to drive conversions.
Here is how the text-to-give process and your appeal typically works:
- After regularly engaging their text messaging list, nonprofits occasionally send a broadcast text that describes an urgent, ongoing problem and how monthly donations will help to solve that problem. For example, monthly giving campaigns are often sent in January or February and September.
- The constituent clicks on a link within the text message and is taken to a donation page. There, the donor can enter their payment information, confirm their recurring donation, and submit their gift.
- With the help of your nonprofit text messaging platform, you can automatically send a personalized thank-you message recognizing their gift.
Be transparent about your fundraising needs and explain how signing up for monthly giving will help your mission progress.
3. Leverage social proof
Leveraging social proof is a powerful strategy when promoting recurring text-to-give campaigns, as it can build trust and inspire others to participate.
Whether you’re filming a campaign video, posting on social media, or writing blog content for your website, here are three tips for effectively using social proof:
- Highlight testimonials. Share testimonials from existing recurring donors. Include their personal experiences, motivations for donating, and the impact their contributions have had. Introduce the people who have benefited from their donations and share their stories as well.
- Display donation milestones. Show the progress of your recurring text-to-give campaign through visual aids, such as progress bars or charts. Post these to your website, social media profiles, or in email updates to demonstrate how close you are to achieving your fundraising goal. Sending updates and celebrating important milestones can encourage new supporters to join.
- Showcase donor recognition. Acknowledge and publicly thank donors for their ongoing and innovative support. Consider creating a donor wall or a dedicated section on your website to showcase the names or initials of recurring donors.
To maintain a strong connection with your text-to-give donors and leverage the exclusivity of the platform, consider sending updates specifically via text. For example, when donors opt into your program, you might send them a message that says, “Thank you for joining! Together, your ongoing support will make a lasting impact on our cause.”
4. Be transparent
Imagine you sign up to support a nonprofit via text and are flooded with unexpected messages from them each day. Chances are you’ll unsubscribe.
Ensure your text-to-give program is built on a foundation of trust by making it clear what supporters can expect after opting in, including:
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- Frequency of messages: Specify how often donors can expect to receive campaign-related texts, whether it be on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. You can include this information in your initial campaign promotion materials and on the donation confirmation page.
- Type of content: Describe the nature of the content donors will receive through text messages. In addition to a regular text confirming their monthly, quarterly, or yearly donation, should they expect to receive updates on your nonprofit’s activities, success stories, campaign progress, or other relevant information?
- Opt-out instructions: Provide easy-to-follow instructions on how donors can opt out of receiving text messages if they choose to stop. Typically, donors can opt out by replying to a text message with a specific keyword like “STOP,” “UNSUBSCRIBE,” or “QUIT.” Make sure donors are aware of the opt-out keyword and that it’s easy to remember.
If a donor chooses to opt out of your text-to-give program, respect their decision and promptly remove them from your subscriber list. However, you should still encourage them to continue supporting your cause. Contact them via their preferred channel and send other involvement opportunities they may be interested in.
Remember to continually engage with your donors and keep them updated on the impact of their recurring contributions. Building trust and maintaining transparency are key to sustaining your recurring text donation program over time.
