Mobile Giving – The easiest way to introduce digital giving

“Many consumers find it easier to give money that isn’t physically in their hands, or represents only a relatively small personal sacrifice that, when combined with the donations of others, is sufficient to make a difference.” — “Four Ideas to Make Your Cause Marketing More Powerful,” Forbes.com

An average American checks their phone at-least once every 12 minutes. Mobile phones are such a part of our lives that we carry them everywhere, we use them for everything – from shopping to recording life’s amazing moments. Today, people in all walks of life are familiar with them. In 2015, 90% of the population had the ability to send and receive text messages. That is why we think text-to-give is the best way to introduce digital giving among your supporters. 

Charities can face problems if they are new to digital, or their supporters are not at ease with digital giving, or they don’t have the time to implement it. Here, we answer some of these questions nonprofits might have about mobile giving.

Why should text-to-give be one of my online donation tools?

To many of us, texting is routine. It is simple, fun and fast. Text giving thus provides a quick way to support your cause, through a medium your supporters are familiar with. Most organisations initially hesitated from using text giving as it had issues regarding high carrier fees, a lack of systematic donor data retention and long wait time when donations are actually processed and reach the organization. Thankfully, those days are long gone. It is now a proven way to support and promote generosity in people today. Even the younger generation, the millennials make 11% of total giving and are the most tech-savvy generation. To engage them, it would be necessary that you set up an outlet that they connect with regularly. With 25% of their donations coming from mobile devices, text giving would be a great way to have them support your cause.

Read : Generational giving: Nonprofit fundraising for all age groups

Moreover, Mobile Giving is an exciting opportunity for all to give and share in a celebratory spirit. While following your nonprofit’s message, you can use text-to-give campaigns for some merrymaking. You could send cheerful messages to your donors, clever social media graphics, or an event celebrating your organization – and raising money for it.

What are the benefits of text-to-give for my organisation and my donors?

For nonprofits:

• Raise and receive funds quickly and easily.
  With just a few clicks, donors can give to your campaign.
  
• Collect donor data efficiently.
  As more and more donors give, you will be able to collect their names, phone numbers and email addresses.
  
• Enhance your engagement with donors.
  Use your donor’s information to improve donor retention, at the same time, making easy for them to reconnect with your organisation.
  
• Combine different fundraising techniques.
  Join forces with other fundraising methods and maximise your fundraiser’s results.
  
• Use mobile giving in events.
  Engage the crowd by giving them the ability to give with a text. It will surely lighten up your crowd and make them realize the easy of giving through this medium.
  
• Streamline your donations.
  Working at a nonprofit can be very busy. Therefore having a streamlined way to accept donations and conduct campaigns is a must.

For donors :

• Donate on the go.
  The key point is to reach people wherever donors will be carrying their mobiles, though for most of us, it is everywhere.
  
• A familiar format.
  Most donors text on a regular basis. Therefore, giving a platform which they are familiar with makes easy for them to donate.
  
• Secure donations.
  Text-to-give follows strict guidelines for donor data, which makes their donations and data secure.
  
• Can set up recurring donations.
  Some text giving platforms, like GiveCentral, allow setting up weekly or monthly donations, making it easy for your donors to support. With different giving amounts, encourage your donors to give as little or as much as they would like to.

How do I implement text-to-give in my organisation?

The first step would be to let your supporters know that they can donate using a simple text. Using Text-to-Give, you can direct your donors to your unique fundraising pages, which are mobile-friendly for your donors to directly donate from their mobile devices. Educate them about how they can donate through these fundraising pages. Once they have donated, they will receive a ‘thankyou’ message showing how much they have donated, with contact details in case of any query.

Using Text-to-Connect. GiveCentral sets you up with your own unique number where donors can text you their important information. This gets directly stored in the database as soon as the donor sends the text.

Explain to them from where their donation comes from. It is necessary to add a payment method on GiveCentral’s platform to use our Text-to-Give services. Therefore, ask them to update their payment information on the platform. When a donor makes a donation through GiveCentral’s Text-to-Give, their payment info will be directly fetched from their phone number, and the amount will be deducted from the card that they have saved on the platform.

Tell them how mobile giving, as a part of digital giving, helps your charity, or how the funds reach your beneficiaries faster than cash. This will help them feel more connected with your organisation.

Finally, you would have successfully introduced text giving to your supporters, turning them into digital givers in the easiest of ways.

Fundraising using text doesn’t just help your donations but also helps build personal connections with the people you reach. The ultimate goal is to make them investors in your cause rather than one-off donors. Therefore a texting platform enables your organisation to manage hundreds of text messages and contacts. This goes out as a personal message rather than a template email for everyone on your database.