8 Text-to-Give Platforms to Mobilize Your Donors

Text-to-give is a mobile fundraising method that enables supporters to donate using their cell phones via text message. 

The M+R Benchmarks 2024 study illuminates multiple interesting mobile giving trends, including:

• Most nonprofit traffic (52%) came from mobile devices in 2023. 
• Revenue from mobile messages increased by 14% from 2023.
• Mobile message volume increased by 40% in 2023.
• Fundraising mobile messages generated $92 in revenue for every 1,000 messages sent.

With these statistics in mind, your organization may seek a comprehensive text-to-give platform to facilitate mobile fundraising. This guide rounds up eight text-to-give platforms to help you compare features and pricing and ultimately find the right tool for your needs. First, let’s explore a few frequently asked questions about text to give platforms.

How does text-to-give work?

Let’s start by clarifying the difference between text-to-give and text-to-donate. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, they refer to slightly different processes. 

Text-to-give allows your donors to give through their phone bill, while text-to-donate takes your donors to a mobile donation form to complete their transactions. 

Here’s what the text-to-give process looks like: 

1. Your nonprofit sets up a short code, campaign keyword, and donation amount. Depending on the platform you use, you can sometimes also set up recurring donation options. 
2. Supporters text the campaign keyword to the short code. 
3. The predetermined donation amount is billed to your donor’s cell phone bill by their carrier. 
4. The phone carrier processes the donations and transfers the total donations to your organization.

The text-to-give process is appealing because it’s simple for your donors. Mobile donations can be completed through a few text messages, requiring little effort from your supporters. However, with text-to-give, it can take your organization longer to receive the donated funds because they are processed by a third-party organization. 

How does text-to-donate work?

Text-to-donate involves collecting donations through text messages by sending donors a link to your nonprofit’s online donation form. Here’s what the process looks like:

1. Donors initiate a text donation by texting a keyword to your dedicated phone number. 
2. Your organization automatically texts them a link to your online donation page.
3. Donors use the link to donate whenever is convenient for them.
4. Your nonprofit can follow up with reminders as needed until donors fulfill their pledges.

Most nonprofits tend to prefer this giving option because they receive donated funds immediately. Plus, by using a text-to-donate platform that’s integrated with your CRM, donors’ information can automatically flow into your database. By contrast, it can be challenging to keep track of donor information when they give using text-to-give platforms because they aren’t inputting their information into your giving form. 

How do text-to-give platforms work?

Text-to-give software allows you to register for a dedicated text-to-give number (or short code) and promote the designated keywords associated with your cause. Once set up, your donors can simply text your keyword to the provided number to initiate the giving process. Then, your donors will receive a reply with a link to complete their donation, and the contribution is seamlessly processed, making text-to-donate an efficient and user-friendly method for raising funds. 

Most text fundraising software has a monthly cost, but some text fundraising platforms offer free (excluding third-party payment fees) or low-cost options to nonprofits.

What are the benefits of text-to-give platforms?

There are many reasons your nonprofit should utilize text-to-donate tools. These platforms help you:

• Capitalize on the widespread use of cell phones, providing a direct and immediate channel for donor engagement. 
• Make giving more accessible by allowing your donors to contribute to your cause without needing a computer or visiting your organization in person. 
• Reach a broader audience while encouraging spontaneous giving.  
• Communicate with your donors quickly—it takes an average of 90 seconds to respond to a text. The faster your donors are able to respond to your donation appeal, the more likely they are to complete a donation. 
• Segment your donors to target specific audiences for different campaigns. This allows you to customize your messages to your supporters to increase the likelihood of their response.

8 text-to-give platforms for nonprofits

1. Qgiv by Bloomerang | The best text fundraising platform

Qgiv’s text fundraising tools are robust and versatile, designed to elevate your nonprofit’s fundraising through the power of mobile giving. This text-to-give software provides you with a powerful solution for collecting donations via text messages with a user-friendly interface, making it simple for your donors to contribute to your cause with just a few taps on their smartphones. 

Some key features of Qgiv’s text fundraising platform include:

• Customizable campaign options
• Real-time donation tracking
• Integration with Qgiv’s other fundraising solutions

These key features provide an end-to-end fundraising solution through one platform rather than needing to use different platforms for different types of fundraisers. Additional features include: 

Security

Qgiv also prioritizes security for both you and your donors to ensure all private information stays secure, providing your donors the confidence to give to your organization. The platform provides extensive reporting and analytics, allowing you to evaluate the effectiveness of your campaigns and make data-driven decisions.

Integrations

With Qgiv’s integrations, you can export text-to-give data directly into your CRM or accounting software. Overall, Qgiv’s text fundraising tools are powerful and adaptable to empower your nonprofit and enhance your fundraising efforts. 

Other features we love:

• Outbound messaging helps you engage your donors, allows you to send reminders to them about completing pledges, and helps you provide other important information. 
• Segmented donor lists allow you to customize your donation appeals to personalize the giving experience.  
• FundHub Live allows you to screencast your fundraising thermometer during events and show an activity feed that features your donors’ messages from their text donations. 
• Data reporting provides you with an easy way to track your text campaigns to see which keywords and other fundraising strategies drive the most donations.

Best for:

Nonprofits looking for an incredibly simple but effective way to collect text donations from supporters while using engagement tools to foster long-lasting relationships. 

Pricing:

Qgiv’s text-to-donate tools cost $159 per month or $387 per quarter for 2,000 outbound messages per month, plus processing, eCheck, and AMEX fees. Learn more about Qgiv’s pricing here. 

2. Handbid | Best text-to-give platform for virtual auctions 

Handbid’s Text2Give software allows organizations to collect donations through text messaging during an auction event. Nonprofits can use Text2Give to create customized campaigns that boost engagement with event attendees. The platform offers a secure and user-friendly donation process, allowing contributors to support causes from their mobile devices. 

Text2Give includes real-time donation tracking for insights into campaign progress. The platform’s versatility allows nonprofits to tailor campaigns to their specific needs, enhancing donor engagement. Handbid’s Text2Give follows their commitment to leveraging technology to make charitable giving more accessible and efficient. 

Best for: 

Nonprofits looking to add more engagement and additional fundraising opportunities to their auction events to ensure all supporters have the chance to donate even if they don’t win an auction item. 

Pricing: 

Handbid’s pricing starts at $1,396, with single and multi-event packages available. All packages include a credit card processing fee of 3.5% + $0.30.  

3. Give Lively | Best text fundraising platform for newer nonprofits 

Give Lively’s Text-to-Donate platform helps simplify and enhance fundraising efforts through mobile giving. This text-to-give software harnesses the convenience of text messaging to make donating quick and secure.  

Give Lively’s Text-to-Donate features a user-friendly interface, customizable campaign options, donation tracking, multiple payment options, and integration with Give Lively’s other fundraising tools.  

The platform offers an engaging experience with detailed reporting on campaign progress. Give Lively aims to enhance the reach of charitable giving by making it easier to contribute to different causes. This platform relies on voluntary contributions from donors to provide their services to nonprofits in a “pay free forward” business model.  

Best for:

Nonprofits looking for a text fundraising solution that pairs well with other fundraising efforts, such as campaign pages, donation widgets, event ticketing, and live fundraising displays. 

Pricing: 

Give Lively is free for nonprofits, but there are fees from third-party payment processors, such as Stripe and PayPal.  

4. Snowball Fundraising | Best text-to-give platform for multiple shortcodes  

Snowball Fundraising’s Text-to-Give platform is designed to allow quick and secure donations via text messages. This platform offers three types of text-to-give numbers: local, toll-free, and shortcode. Both local and toll-free options include 10-digit phone numbers instead of the 5-digit shortcode that is more commonly available for text fundraising.

This text-to-give software features an intuitive interface, customizable campaign options, gift tracking, and integration with other Snowball fundraising tools. This platform aims to boost donor engagement and drive fundraising campaigns. Snowball emphasizes simplicity, customization, and integration to facilitate efficient fundraising. 

Best for:

Organizations looking to use text-to-give to support additional fundraising opportunities such as auctions and events. The platform is also helpful for churches looking to raise additional funds during services and events. 

Pricing: 

Snowball offers a free plan with a 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee. Paid plans start at $549 annually. 

5. Tatango | Best text fundraising platform for political nonprofits 

Tatango offers an SMS marketing platform to streamline communication strategies. This text-to-give platform involves three steps: creating the campaign text, sending it to potential donors, and tracking the campaign results. Tatango helps enable audience segmentation based on preferences, behavior, or demographics to create targeted and personalized messaging. 

The platform offers engagement tools, drip campaigns, and interactive communication. Additionally, real-time analytics help measure campaign performance and boost donor engagement. Tatango’s platform aims to grow donor bases through automated and personalized campaigns for continuous giving. 

Best for:

Nonprofits looking to send a large volume of texts with a scalable, reliable platform—Tatango has a 99% uptime and average delivery time of less than 50 seconds for your entire contact list.  

Pricing:  

Tatango pricing is broken down into setup costs, software fees, and messaging costs.  

6. GiveWP | Best text-to-give platform for WordPress websites 

GiveWP is a WordPress plugin that helps integrate fundraising tools into WordPress websites. While the basic plugin is free to install, the platform provides different plugin add-ons at a cost, as well as different transaction fees. Their Text-to-Give add-on helps integrate text messaging into the donation process and is powered by Twilio and Stripe.  

This mobile fundraising software offers a user-friendly interface, customizable campaign options, real-time donation tracking, and integration with GiveWP’s other fundraising tools. 

GiveWP also offers many add-ons for payment gateways, recurring donations, peer-to-peer fundraising, and more that organizations can purchase individually with Text-to-Give or as part of a plugin package. 

Best for: 

Organizations looking for a cost-effective text-to-give solution that integrates seamlessly with their WordPress websites and forms. 

Pricing: 

Text fundraising is an add-on service that starts at $79 per year with additional fees from Stripe and Twilio.  

7. Pledge | Best text fundraising platform for small text campaigns 

Pledge offers text-to-donate features that help activate the donation process in two clicks. For simplicity, Pledge provides a custom keyword and simple shortcode phone number to make it easy to remember all the information needed to initiate the donation process.  

Pledge’s text-to-donate tools include donation reporting, donor conversion tracking, fundraiser statistics, and digital wallet payment options. It can also integrate with live broadcasts to show the text campaign’s progress during an event. Pledge relies on an optional tipping model to cover operational costs and other fees. 

Best for:

Nonprofits that want to combine text fundraising with events, charity galas, livestream fundraisers, and TV or radio campaigns. 

Pricing: 

Pledge only charges organizations a $5 disbursement fee to receive the funds and credit card fees on donations over $1,000.   

8. Tithe.ly | Best text fundraising platform for churches 

Tithe.ly’s church text messaging and email tools are tailored for religious organizations. This platform helps churches engage and connect with their congregations effectively through mobile devices. Tithe.ly focuses on modernizing the tithing experience for religious organizations to motivate congregants to give. 

Tithe.ly’s text-to-give tool features the ability to send both text messages and emails from a unified platform and supports targeted messaging, enabling churches to tailor their communications to specific groups within their congregation. This software helps religious organizations foster community, share important information, and engage with their members for a connected and informed congregation.

Best for: 

Churches looking for an affordable fundraising platform to provide a secure donation option for congregants anywhere, anytime. 

Pricing:

Tithe.ly offers a free plan with transaction fees based on payment method. The All-Access paid plan is $119 per month and provides full access to additional tools, including church management, point of sale systems, and more. 

How to choose a text fundraising platform  

There are multiple fundraising platforms that offer text fundraising, but you should do some research before committing to one. There are a few key features to look for when choosing your text fundraising platform: 

• Outbound texts: Outbound texts from your nonprofit to your supporters is a great way to engage and connect with them. Choose text fundraising tools that offer outbound texts to easily provide key news and updates on your campaign!
  
• Pledges: Make sure donors can also text pledges to your text fundraising number so they can complete their gift at a later date. Having text pledging capabilities is great, especially when you’re asking your donors to pledge a gift while at an in-person event. However, pledges are only useful if they’re followed through in the end. Use text fundraising to send automatic reminder messages and track and report on unfulfilled pledges. Reminder messages help you raise more, boost donor conversion, and save staff time. You can automate messages to send supporters campaign deadlines or urge donors to make their gift recurring after they’ve given.
  
• List subscription: With list subscriptions, your supporters can opt in to receive texts from you. Segment your subscribers in order to send targeted texts relevant to their specific interests.
  
• Live event component: Text fundraising often goes hand-in-hand with a live event, so make sure your text fundraising platform can directly connect to your event. For instance, display your campaign thermometer at your event to let attendees track your fundraising progress in real time. This shows donors how much they’ve given already and can motivate your supporters to give more. 
  
• Ease of use: Your text fundraising platform should be easy for both you and your donors to use. Setting up a text fundraising campaign shouldn’t put your team behind schedule. And your text-to-donate forms should be simple for your donors to navigate.
  
• Responsive design: Your donors don’t want to wait for your donation page to load when they text to donate. Look for a text fundraising platform that helps you make mobile-friendly donation forms to increase donation completion rates.
  
• Pricing: Budgets are crucial for nonprofits, so you want to choose a text fundraising platform that fits into your financial plan. Pricing can include the base cost for a set amount of outbound messages, overage costs, application fees for text-to-give, and processing fees for donations.
  
• Multiple payment options: Different donors prefer to give through different types of payments. Check out what payment options are offered by your text fundraising platform, as well as how quickly your organization can retrieve the funds from their donations.
  
• Customer support: If you’re new to text fundraising, a good customer support team can help you set up your campaign, as well as train your team to use the platform and track your campaign progress. 

Final thoughts  

Text fundraising is a convenient donation method that enables individuals to contribute to charitable causes through text messaging on their mobile phones. To get the most out of text-to-give fundraising, you need software that supports all your giving needs. Research your mobile fundraising software options to find the best platform for your organization!  

Additional resources

If you want to learn more about text fundraising, take a look at these additional resources:  

• Text Fundraising: The Ultimate Guide. Use this guide to get started on your next text fundraising campaign to boost your fundraising efforts! 
• Mobile Fundraisers: Explore Best Practices & Campaign Ideas. Check out these best practices and campaign ideas for a successful mobile fundraiser! 
• Use a Mobile Fundraising Platform to Boost Events. Take a look at how mobile fundraising can help increase your event revenue.  
• Using Text Fundraising to Grow Annual Fundraising. Don’t limit your text fundraising to events or individual campaigns! Utilize mobile fundraising to expand your annual fund.