Marketing Your Text-to-Donate Campaign Helps Boost Its Success

Using Qgiv’s text-to-donate tool makes it easy to collect donations from your supporters any time and anywhere. However, your text-to-donate campaign can only be effective if your donors are aware that the campaign exists. If you want to use text-to-donate to raise funds for a campaign, factor in a marketing plan you can implement alongside the text-to-donate campaign. Some steps of your marketing plan can even be executed using the text-to-donate tool itself! Others will require using other marketing channels to reach your donor base.

Here are some marketing tips for your next campaign.

Market the campaign in advance

Prep the people on your text messaging lists

Give your donors fair warning that you’re going to be asking them for support. If you’ve established text communications with your donors, this is a great opportunity to send a mass text to donors who have already opted in to receiving text communications from you to give them a heads up.

Add to your text lists by asking email supporters to opt in

For donors you communicate with over email, send an email telling your supporters what you’re trying to do, and ask them to opt in to receiving text message communications. This allows you to build your text list ahead of your text-to-donate campaign. Similar messaging can also be shared to your social media pages with an invite for supporters to opt in.

Spread the word in your newsletter

If your nonprofit incorporates a blog or newsletters (digital or print) makes sure to mention the campaign in these publications as well.

Add info on your website

In addition to sending info to your supporters, make sure visitors to your website can see that you’ve got a text-to-donate campaign going on. That’s exactly what Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis did for their Giving Tuesday text fundraising campaign!

Share the details on social

Details of the campaign should also be cross posted to your social media accounts. First, create a post explaining what your text-to-donate campaign is and what it’ll fund. Then, create posts instructing donors on how to make a donation via text. If you’re incentivizing the campaign in any way through a giveaway or contest, tease it in your posts. You’ll also want to post reminders leading up to the event. You can start with a “one week away” post and add reminders every couple of days until the campaign is under way.

Post campaign instructions where supporters will see it

Closer to the start of your campaign, send a simple set of instructions (and/or a video showing how text-to-donate works), to those who have opted in to your communications. If you cater to a more traditional crowd, print flyers for your physical locations. It’s important to teach supporters how to make their gifts when the time comes.

Market the text-to-donate campaign while it’s happening

While the weeks leading up to your campaign present a good opportunity to prepare your supporters and build your text-to-donate campaign contact list, the campaign itself requires attention, too. Once your text-to-donate campaign starts, send messages encouraging supporters to give and share the campaign. The great thing about a text-to-donate campaign, is that texts are easily shareable across devices. Recipients can literally copy and paste your message in outbound texts of their own. Encourage this and keep an eye out for new numbers that text in donations.

Make sure your organization schedules texts to encourage continued giving and sharing. Send messages throughout the campaign with fundraising goal updates and calls to action. Texts are also an easy way to share links to impact stories and other resources that inspire your supporters to give to your campaign.

Don’t forget to diversify your marketing

At the same time you’re sending texts to market the campaign, cross promote the campaign on your organization’s social media channels and website. Depending on the campaign’s duration, you may want to place an image on your website where it will be seen easily by visitors. The image should let people know how to get involved with the text-to-donate campaign and could even be made into a clickable link to provide visitors with more information.

Regularly updating your Facebook and other social media feeds regarding the text-to-donate campaign is a great way to talk at length about the impact of donations for your nonprofit, what the goal is set to accomplish, and is a place to publicly thank those who got involved.

Updates on where the campaign is in relation to its fundraising goal are extremely helpful. Making giving a game with gamification posts can also encourage donors to give with the hope of winning a prize. Use the following posts as examples of ways to keep your followers engaged and invested in your campaign and beyond!

Don’t forget your donors when it’s over

By the end of your text-to-donate campaign, your campaign supporters are invested in its outcome. Make sure you send a final text sharing the total amount raised, thanking donors for what they made possible, and reiterating what you’re planning to do with the money raised. This final message could also invite donors to stay involved. Provide links to where donors can sign up for your newsletter or opt in for other text message lists. You can also invite them to follow your organization on social media for regular updates.

The worst thing you can do is accept their donations and then not follow up. When significant progress is made on the project these donors helped fund, let them know about it. Your organization’s fundraising success is their success as well. They’re invested in seeing your project through to completion. It is your obligation to provide updates until that goal is reached This also leaves the door open for them to contribute again when you’ve showed your supporters that you’re using their donations wisely.

Conclusion

Text-to-donate campaigns can be effective at helping your nonprofit raise funds for a specific purpose within a limited time frame. However, you’ll want to avoid blindsiding your donors with sudden text messages. First, start marketing the campaign ahead of time to prep your donors and build upon your existing text message list. You can accomplish this by promoting the campaign across several different marketing channels. Text messages, emails, a graphic on your website – are all inexpensive ways to spread the word. Then, keep donors in the loop during and after the campaign. Provide progress toward your fundraising goal. Finally, let them know how the project is progressing when the campaign is over. Marketing should attract supporters and retain them. Reaching out to thank your text-to-donate supporters and keep them informed of new developments in your project is a great way to keep new donors giving.

Learn More about Text Fundraising with Qgiv

If you want text fundraising tools that help you reach your donors, inspire them to give, and make donating easy, we’d love to talk to you! Our Mobile Suite is full of the tools you need to run an outstanding campaign. You can learn more about the Mobile Suite on our website or contact us for a one-on-one demonstration of how our tools will work for you.