The end of year giving season is a critical time for nonprofit donations. In fact, CharityEngine reports that 30% of all annual giving occurs in December and that 10% happens on December 29, 30, and 31. A strong year-end giving campaign doesn’t start in December, however. In this blog post we will explore how text can help increase donations and
Only 22% of nonprofits utilize text-to-give, despite revenue for mobile messages increased by 14% in 2023. Texting can be an integral tool for nonprofit supporters who want to donate to the causes they support.
The Benefits of Texting
Nonprofits know that having regular communication with their audience can build support, trust, and amplify impact by turning one-time donors into recurring donors. With a 99% open rate, texting can be a fantastic communications tool for nonprofits during the year-end giving season. A few benefits of texting include:
- Immediacy of Reach: Text messages are delivered instantly and tend to be opened and read quickly, making them ideal for time-sensitive year-end campaigns.
- High Engagement Rates: Text messages have open rates as high as 98%, compared to emails at 20–30%, ensuring your message reaches more supporters.
- Personal Connection: Texting feels more personal and direct than email, helping donors feel a closer connection to the cause and encouraging action.
- Shorter Response Times: People are more likely to act quickly on a text than other forms of communication, making it easier to capture last-minute donations.
- High Conversion Rates: Texting has been shown to yield strong conversion rates, often comparable to or better than other digital channels for donations.
- Enhanced Urgency: With features like countdown timers and urgent calls-to-action, texting is effective for conveying a sense of urgency at year-end.
- Mobile-Friendly and Convenient: Since texts are accessed directly on mobile devices, donating via text is easy and convenient for supporters.
- Effective for Multiple Touchpoints: Texting allows for frequent updates and reminders without overwhelming supporters, keeping your campaign top of mind.
- Versatile Content Options: Texting supports links, images, and even GIFs, which can make your messages more engaging and informative.
Connecting with your supporters on a regular basis can help to keep your organization top of mind, especially with the busy year-end season. It is helpful to start planning your end-of-year fundraiser early. Early planning will help you determine the focus of your appeal. It also makes it easier to coordinate the timing with your other fundraisers, so your end-of-year appeal doesn’t come on the heels of a previous fundraiser.
Segment Your Audience
The best tip for creating engaging and compelling donation-ask messages is to segment your audience. Segmenting your audience can help you create meaningful communications with your audience. When you divide your supporters into specific groups, you can tailor your messaging to reflect their interests, donation history, and engagement level. There are many ways to segment your audience. Here are a few effective ways:
- first-time donors
- lapsed donors
- annual giving
- major donors
- past donation history
- geography
- event attendance
- important milestones and dates (birthdays, giving anniversary, etc).
Best Practices for Year-End Text Appeals
While segmenting audiences is important, it is not the only best practice for year-end appeals. Writing highly engaging and compelling messages, and crafting clear calls to action are also crucial to the success of your year-end text campaign. Create urgency by using countdowns, deadlines, and exclusive offers to encourage immediate action.
Wrapping Up: The Best Way to Maximize Your Year-end Giving
1. Start Early. Don’t wait until December 1 to start planning your year-end text appeals! Build upon the success of prior communications or campaigns by sending messages that are not only donation asks.
2. Cross-promote your messages on other communications channels and platforms. As with any fundraising effort, it’s crucial to start promoting early, so your supporters know what’s coming. Use SMS, social media, and printed materials to share your end-of-year fundraiser and the impact the money will have.
3. Follow-up with Gratitude. Don’t forget to thank supporters after they give. These messages can be easily automated saving your team resources and efficiency.
If you want to learn more about how texting can impact your year-end campaigns, contact Tatango.
