[ SHOWGSD-L ] Very OT and Long<>Text messaging donations grab your email addy and your zipcode. FYI

  • From: stormy435 <stormy435@xxxxxxx>
  • To: "showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:34:27 -0700

I don't text message and wouldn't donate through it if I did, but check it out. 
 Attracted my attention because of HSUS' use of it.
S
 
<http://www.nptimes.com/09Mar/npt-090315-col1.html>
 
Mobile fundraising not ringing off the hook
 
Teleton, a Mexico-based charity that helps disabled children, used Mobile 
Accord's mobile donation program, called mGive, during a 24-hour telethon 
airing in the United States. The telethon aired on a cable channel with nearly 
5 million U.S. subscribers and in one day 15,232 mobile donors gave more than 
$76,000.

 

"It's dollars that they wouldn't have had otherwise," said Tony Aiello, senior 
vice president of business development at Mobile Accord.

 

The more than 15,000 mobile donors slightly edged out the online response, with 
14,879 donors giving through the Web. Online donations reached more than 
$732,000 but mobile donations are limited to $5 for each donation. The bulk of 
Teleton contributions, $3.5 million from nearly 180,000 donors, came through 
telephone calls.

 

"For some people, their phones are an appendage of their own hand," said Grace

Markarian, online communications manager for The Humane Society of the United 
States (HSUS).


 

And some organizations are tapping into that huge wireless market via short 
message service (SMS), more commonly known as text messaging. With some text 
messaging campaigns, donors can just reply to a short code they are given and 
confirm a donation that will be added to their phone bill..

 

Monthly text messaging in the U.S. reached the 75 billion mark in June 2008, 
compared to 7.2 billion in June 2005, according to CTIA, the international 
association for the wireless telecommunications industry and more than 262 
million wireless subscribers in June 2008. 
Text messaging gives technology-savvy people the opportunity to make a fast, 
easy donation, according to Aiello.

 

Social networking sites that accept donations, like Facebook's Causes 
application, require a relatively cumbersome information form that requires 
name, several contact addresses and credit card information. Texting allows for 
a simple give that requires just a few flicks of the thumb before hitting 
"send."

 

Yet, Markarian said nonprofits should not let text messaging stand alone if 
they want to capitalize on the mobile channel. The organization built its 
mobile list through advocacy campaigns, like stopping Canadian seal hunts, and 
has a mobile texting base of 15,000 supporters.

 

"It's neat, it's fun, it's new Ð but it's not a panacea. It's not the cure for 
your organization's donation or advocacy needs," she said. "It's a part of your 
overall strategy and that's true for any channel you communicate with your 
people on. It should all be part of one larger plan and appropriately branded."

 

HSUS spent nearly a year cultivating its mobile list exclusively with advocacy 
messages. The organization then decided to split its mobile list to test a text 
reminder about end-of-year giving and saw a 77-percent increase for those who 
received the mobile alert.

 

"In a world where we are starting to see email open and response rates start to 
go down, this is a really nice way to make your organization stand out and 
enhance the things you already do well," said Matt Wilson, director of 
partnerships at Mobile Commons.

 

Wilson also explained that simply texting to give $5 will not transform an 
organization's fundraising. "The organizations that we are really seeing be the 
most successful are not just saying, Ôhere is a way to give a mobile donation' 
or Ôtext' ÔGive' to short code 20222.' Just like in the email world, if you 
recently acquired a list of email addresses from your old direct mail file and 
you sent those constituents a single email to give online, you aren't going to 
see stellar results. The same ideas of relationship management also apply to 
mobile," he said. 

Jed Alpert, CEP and co-founder of Mobile Commons, said that mobile is an 
"incredible way to build a list and get people in the door -- then it has to be 
a part of everything else."

He said, "It would be worth it for an organization that can create a call to 
action, at a live event or concert or something like that, to get the full 
benefit of going through the process of enabling mobile donations."

 

Organizations should craft a compelling call to action that requires a quick 
response or an urgent ask. Calls to action that are tied to disaster relief or 
breaking news might compel people to start texting and giving, as they did 
during recent natural disasters.

 

"Organizations with the opportunity to have those calls to action are going to 
succeed much more than organizations that don't in the universe of mobile 
donations," said Alpert.

Mobile Accord's mGive can also incorporate two Web 2.0 darlings, Facebook and 
mobile, to make donating faster on the social networking site. The mGive Giving 
application allows users to apply a fundraising widget to their Facebook page, 
where friends can just enter their mobile number to donate. Aiello acknowledged 
that so far money raised via social networking sites is still low but the 
mobile widget allows people to donate with just a phone number.

 

The evolving mobile technologies are also helping nonprofits collect more 
information about the donor than just their digits. "Everyone wants to know 
'what kind of data do I get about this donor? What do I know about them?' And 
up until now, all we knew about them was this was their phone number and they 
want to give you this money," said Aiello.

 

Technology allows for a link to be sent to the number that can open to a mobile 
Web page. That page can then gather more information about the donor, including 
email and ZIP code. "So you not only have received a quick mobile donation, but 
you have also acquired critical donor data on that person and you've built your 
email list as well simultaneously," said Aiello.


Organizations should try to segment messages by ZIP codes to remind donors 
about events in their community or state and can give donors more information 
about specific campaigns via email. "That way you can build a real record in 
your eCRM database as opposed to having just a list of mobiles," said 
Aiello. NPT

 

--
Stormy Hope
www.carpoc.org
AKC Legislative Liaison, GSDCA
Sunshine Squad <showgsd.org/sunshine.html)
GSDs and more

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