The digital landscape is constantly evolving and nonprofits need to find ways to connect with supporters quickly and efficiently. Nonprofit text message marketing (also known as SMS marketing, text-to-give, or text-to-donate) can be a powerful tool, achieving open rates of 99%! Compared to email open rates at 20%, text message marketing can be a compelling communication channel to directly engage constituents.
If you haven’t explored how texting can benefit your organization, you’re missing out! This guide will cover everything you need to know about nonprofit text message marketing. Choosing a nonprofit text message marketing platform like Tatango allows your organization to embrace nonprofit text message marketing to engage your supporters directly with cultivation messages or donation asks. Advanced analytics allow you to track the direct impact of texting campaigns on donations, volunteerism, and event participation.
The Importance of Nonprofit Text Message Marketing
Mission-minded organizations need a nonprofit text message marketing platform that is easy-to-use and empowers their team to manage texting campaigns efficiently, freeing up valuable time for other strategic initiatives. Here are just a few ways that a text message marketing tool can be useful for nonprofits.
- Immediacy: 99% of text messages are opened within minutes, making it ideal for urgent updates, fundraising appeals, or event reminders.
- Direct Connection: Statistics show that over 90% of Americans have a phone and use it 5-6 hours a day. Build relationships with supporters by cutting through the noise of crowded inboxes and frustrating social algorithms by meeting supporters where they are-on their phones.
- Efficiency: Automate messages, saving your team time while still making a big impact.
- Affordability: Text message marketing is surprisingly cost-effective, especially compared to traditional channels.
Nonprofit Text Message Marketing Success Stories
Nonprofits need to evolve with the way their supporters connect with their organization. Traditional channels such as email and social media are currently under-performing and crowded. Integrating texting into your multi-channel strategy is now essential. Why? Texts boast a staggering 99% open rate, giving you an unparalleled direct line to your audience. This is a game-changer, especially during crucial fundraising periods like Giving Tuesday and year-end appeals.
Nonprofits across all sectors are seeing the benefits of using innovative tools like text message marketing as part of their multichannel communications strategy. Unlike other channels, texting guarantees your messages won’t just be delivered – they’ll be seen almost instantly. Every donation matters and this immediacy can make all the difference in maximizing impact for your mission. Plus, texting lets you personalize even large-scale outreach.
Getting Started with Nonprofit Text Message Marketing
- Choose a Provider: Look for a reliable nonprofit text message marketing platform, that is intentionally created to help these organizations increase donations and maximize impact.
- Build Your List: Offer multiple ways to opt in (website forms, keywords at events, social media, etc.), always with clear consent. Learn more about consent for nonprofits and how it works here.
- Craft Compelling Messages: Keep texts brief, and personalized, and include a clear call to action. Read our guide to the highest ROI-generating text messages.
- Scale Your Strategy: Watch your donations and engagement increase with a nonprofit text message marketing platform that can help you analyze messages and engagement with robust analytics, allowing you to adjust your text campaigns in real time. Additionally, look for a tool that offers the integrations you need with tools and tech you’re already using such as Salesforce, Blackbaud, Classy Hubspot, Virtuous, FundraiseUp, and more.
- Compliance is Key: Familiarize yourself with regulations regarding nonprofit texting. You can find everything you need to know about Tatango’s commitment to compliance in our SOC-2 post.
We hear from nonprofits all the time that compliance is a big concern, and we get it! Your supporters’ data safety and security are at the heart of what we do. Tatango’s built-in compliance tools and dedicated support provide peace of mind, ensuring your texting program aligns with industry regulations and best practices. From onboarding to sending your first message (or your thousandth!), Tatango’s SOC-2 compliance, TCPA compliance information, and our compliance team support are with you every step of the way, ensuring the safety and security are at the forefront of what you need to advance your mission.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Mission-minded leaders want insights to make smart investments. Achieving a 5x ROI is great, but it’s the detailed reporting and robust analytics that allows you to see what’s working and what’s not and to adjust in real time. Our goal is to empower nonprofits to allocate resources confidently for maximum impact with your text messaging.
- Scalability: As nonprofits grow, their needs change. We’ve worked with organizations like March of Dimes, Alzheimer’s Association, International Medical Corps, and others who depend on being able to increase their message sends and subscriber lists quickly and easily. Tatango’s platform is designed to scale alongside your organization, providing a flexible and powerful communications solution for the long term.
Use Cases For Nonprofit Text Message Marketing
Nonprofits don’t need to use text message marketing solely for donation asks. In fact, nonprofit text message marketing best practices show that sending cultivation messages and donation asks are key to achieving high ROI and maximizing impact for your organization.
Here are just a few of the ways that Tatango suggests nonprofits can utilize text message marketing
- Fundraising: Many nonprofits use text message marketing for fundraising. Send text-to-donate messages, auction updates, matching gift campaigns, and other donation asks.
- Events: Peer-to-peer fundraising events are crucial to many organizations. Send pre-event hype messages, registration reminders, day-of logistics, and post-event thank yous to engage supporters, participants, and volunteers.
- Volunteerism: Volunteers are helpful in so many aspects of nonprofit life. Use nonprofit text message marketing for recruitment drives, shift reminders, appreciation messages
- Advocacy: Donation asks are not the sole use case for nonprofit text message marketing. Send text messages such as action alerts, calls to contact legislators, and more.
How To Integrate Nonprofit Text Message Marketing Into Your Current Communications Strategy
Messages tailored to a donor’s interests or past giving make them feel valued, boosting engagement and fostering loyalty.
Texting seamlessly fits into your wider marketing strategy. Maybe a donor first encounters your campaign on social media, receives an email update, then gets a text reminder encouraging their year-end gift. This cohesive approach reinforces your message across multiple touchpoints, ultimately driving more positive responses. As the year closes and people decide where to donate, a well-timed text can be the nudge they need to support your cause.
Nonprofit text message marketing offers immense potential to increase engagement, streamline communication, and drive donations. By following best practices and putting supporters’ needs first, you can harness this powerful tool to achieve your organization’s mission. If you want to learn more about how texting can benefit your nonprofit, contact Tatango today.
