Five Ways to Get Started with Text-to-Donate by Year-End: A Guide for Non-Techies

This is a guest post from Eric Bryant of Gnosis Media Group

With advances in technology, the methods of fundraising have also changed. Text-to-donate is one of the latest methods to be used by charitable organizations to connect with donors and receive donations. It is largely based on mobile technology in which the donor will send a keyword to a short code (a shortened 4-, 5-, or 6-digit phone number) to send a donation to a non-profit or charity. In response, the donor receives an automated response with a payment link. The donor clicks on the link and follows instructions to complete payment. The system then sends a transaction receipt to the donor via text message.

With the holiday season here, many organizations may wish to implement a text-to-donate campaign for their year-end (or anytime) fundraising efforts. Here are some tips to get started:

1.      Decide on your keyword. What is the work people will text to you? Keep it simple and easy to remember. For example, if you’re a charity for children, something like “4KIDS” might work well. Keywords generally need to be 4-12 characters, but make sure yours is easy for prospective donors to spell and to type on their mobile devices.,

2.      Select a service provider. Before you collect those donations you need to select a third- party service provider who will provide a digital platform to run the text giving campaign. The provider gives your organization a unique phone number on which the transactions will be processed and provides all the backend technical and software support so that the process can run smoothly. Make sure you understand the features you need and whether the provider offers them. Here’s a great post that compares two popular text-to-give providers in terms of features and benefits.

3.      Market the campaign. Once the logistics are in place, it is time to put out the word about your campaign to potential donors. Develop a sound marketing strategy that consists of placing your keyword and short code on your website, sending out a call to action to your email lists, and publishing social media posts. Gnosis Media Group offers social media and text blasts promotions with our premium packages.

4.      Gauge the results. Make sure you choose a provider that gives you the metrics you need. Some important campaign metrics include subscriber count, clicks (on donate links), and of course, donation tracking. Keep in mind that some providers do not offer their own payment processing; therefore, they may not be able to tell you when a donation is made or how much in donations are collected. Also, be wary of companies that serve as a custodian of your donated funds. Not all companies are credible in this regard, and generally only another non-profit can serve as a fund custodian.

5.      Acknowledge donations and continue engaging. Although the donor receives a receipt of the donation he made to the organization, it is important that you acknowledge each donor’s contribution and keep them aware of the progress of your campaign. Remember, getting new donors is good, but getting repeat donors is the way to fuel growth. Though it goes without saying, thanking and acknowledging donors is key to retention. A successful manager will strive to make donors feel connected to the cause for better retention.

Getting started with a text-to-donate campaign doesn’t have to be intimidating or super technical. If you follow these simple steps, the donation campaign you run is sure to succeed.

Eric Bryant started Gnosis Media Group (www.gmg.cm) in 2008; it offers an award-winning text-to-donate service for nonprofits.

Damn You, Typos! Begone with You!

Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows that I am a stickler for detail, good grammar, and a typo-free piece of communication. I have been known to snarkily point out the errors on other people's website pages, in their social media posts, their articles . . . and restaurant menus are a particular favorite of mine. (Honestly, doesn't the Italian restaurant know how to spell "cappuccino?") I apologize in advance about my nasty habit but these things just jump out at me, begging for attention.

So it was interesting to have a few friends point out some errors of my own in a Facebook post and a vacation message on my email program. Allow me to explain.

Both were typed on my smartphone, and I was not wearing my glasses. I hate the stupid touchscreen keypad and the fact that I am far-sighted and can't see crap without my glasses! However, are these good excuses or just ... excuses?

In the case of the email vacation message, I let everyone know that "I sm out of the office until later." This is certainly not horrible in any way but it was pretty funny, given the source (moi). When my friend pointed it out I responded that perhaps I was creating a service mark for my message (and then explained the phone typing thing, no glasses, etc.).

In the case of the Facebook message, I was at a major regional shopping mall Monday night, just before closing, when a shooter entered and started firing randomly (not at people, thank goodness; turns out he was there to kill himself but he certainly scared the shoppers and brought out hundreds of police and FBI agents).

My husband and I ran into the back storage room of the shop we were in with the store manager and locked ourselves in there until we could safely exit. I hastily grabbed the phone and wrote out a Facebook post that was partially scrambled due to the errors but everyone understood the message.

 

Caryn Starr-Gates

November 4 via mobile

Locked in back of a store in Gardem stste Plaza. Shooter in the mal. Safe for now.

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I did not realize the errors (minor, given the circumstances) until a friend who read and responded to the post pointed them out. She said I must have been shaking because of so many typos and that just wasn't like me. She is right, of course--not about the shaking (I was not) but about the errors. I had no idea of them at the time. It was not terror in the moment (although I was a bit rattled and nervous) -- again, it was a case of tiny keyboard, touchscreen, no glasses. When I got home and saw it, well, the figurative egg was on my face! I explained the situation to her.

So where does this all lead? Read your stuff before you post it! It only takes a moment to go back and make corrections. What you write, publish, and share are reflections of you, whether in a personal or professional sphere. It is not difficult to make your communication more professional by looking it over first.

• If you are writing an article, news release, report, or other business-related document, have a colleague or professional editor/proofreader review and proofread it before it is published.
• If you are typing on those little phones or even the more expansive tablet keypads, don't hit "Send" until you've looked over the message or the document. The same goes for any desktop email program.
• Try copying and pasting your text into a new blank page and read it over again; sometimes the printed change of scenery helps you see things differently--and notice small mistakes.
• Multi-tasking sucks and will lead to mistakes that you'll have to go back and correct, then re-send whatever you just wrote with a note of apology. This looks bad. For instance, avoid chatting on the phone while sending emails or documents.
• Don't rely on spell check and MS Word's grammar/spelling correction tools -- these are not fail-safe.
• Now that I use a smartphone and text occasionally, I see that capitalizing and punctuation is a bit of a hassle. Do it anyway. At least before you send me that message.