Mobility is Moving In

Since practically everyone has a cell phone these days, it’s no real surprise that they’re becoming useful campaign tools. With mobile texting becoming as popular as email, phone texting list would be just as valuable as an email list.  Two ways to use mobile phones to increase your campaign are to take donations via text message and to increase your outreach list to include text messaging alongside your email and print campaigns.

One of the most important drivers to a campaign is to keep the people involved and up to date.  They want to know what is happening and be a part of the process as much as possible, this is part of what compels them to get involved in the first place.  The idea of sending a text message about a campaign is actually the same concept as using email, you want to give the person a way to stay connected.

By using print media, online forms, and email, you can inform people how to sign up and allow them to opt-in to receive the text messages.  Once the person has signed up for the list they can send and receive text messages about campaign updates in the same fashion as email, to include RSS feeds sent directly to text if so desired.

This brings me to the next part, using the same method as well as the list it generates to increase donations for your campaign.  By working with someone like the Mobile Giving Foundation, you can accept donations over the mobile phone. The donations are actually charged by the mobile phone provider so at the time of texting the person dose not need to have a credit card or check book handy to make the donation.  They are limited to taking $5 donations for each mobile donation, up to five times a month, so each person can give $25 a month via their mobile phone. 

This is a great way to reach the younger generation of donors who are becoming ever more tech savvy.  This really came to light when Garth told me that his neighbor told him she never uses her email account, only texting. She referred to him as being old, since he was more of an “email person.”  A conversation with a few friends who work for mobile phone providers has opened my eyes to the amount of people buying unlimited texting plans for their phones.

A great resource for more information on using mobile phones to increase your campaigns potential, check out Mobile Active.

Comments

[Stephen Joos]

Matt- Great Post! Mobile giving is definitely the way to get in touch with a younger generation. I know I have my phone on me at all times and am more inclined to read a text message than an email.

I wanted to clarify a couple things in the post on setting up a mobile giving campaign. The Mobile Giving Foundation vetts and approves nonprofits to accept mobile donations and channels the funds to the organizations from the carriers. To process the mobile donations you need a Mobile Application Service Provider, like mGive, the company I am with.

We worked with the MGF to make mobile donations a reality and are the only firm in the US with live mobile giving campaigns. We have over 25 in production right now!

[Michael]

Hi,

Great description of some of the stuff going on in mobile. It's growing very fast especially in the non-profit, philanthropic space.

Mobile fundraising and text alerts are two important capabilities. We also have the technology to build email lists at live events and generate phone calls to Congress around specific topics.

Will you be at the FLiP happy hour in New York? If so, I'll see you there are and we should talk.

Best,

Mike