In this modern world, people can accomplish almost anything with a mobile device—connect with others across the globe, share updates about their lives, and even give to charitable causes close to their hearts.
For nonprofit organizations, your supporters’ contributions are essential for driving your operations and on-the-ground impact. To maximize your fundraising campaign results, consider incorporating mobile giving into your strategy. Interact with your donors and prospects where they naturally spend their time to encourage deeper and more frequent engagement.
Before you integrate mobile giving into your next campaign, evaluate your resources and donor profiles to implement a strategy that suits your nonprofit. There are four main categories of mobile giving that offer convenience and expanded fundraising opportunities to your organization:
1. Text-to-give campaigns
Texting is the most widely and frequently used app on smartphones, popular for getting in touch and sharing information. By incorporating text-to-give campaigns into your fundraising strategy, you’ll be able to offer donors an easy and convenient way to make a donation or pledge.
The typical text-to-give process looks like this:
- Your nonprofit finds a text-to-give provider.
- After choosing a keyword, you’ll receive a unique number.
- You’ll share that number with donors.
- When donors text that number, they’ll receive an automatic reply with a link.
- The link will take donors to your mobile-friendly donation page.
This fundraising option allows supporters to complete donations without having to open their mobile browser and manually type in your donation form’s URL. They’ll be able to contribute to your organization’s purpose at whatever place or time they find convenient.
2. Mobile email campaigns
Email is another popular method of communication that people use for both personal and business matters. Furthermore, thanks to smartphones, your supporters don’t even need to be in front of a computer to access their inboxes. Because of this, email is still on the rise, predicted to reach nearly 4.5 billion users next year.
Bonterra Donor Engagement (formerly Network for Good) has found that mobile giving is responsible for 33% of all gifts on our Guided Fundraising customers’ donation pages. When you offer supporters the ability to instantly take action, you’ll reduce the chance that they’ll forget to follow up later when they have access to a computer. Add compelling donation buttons to HTML fundraising emails so donors can make a donation with just a few taps on their phone.
3. Mobile-responsive donation pages
There’s a high likelihood that supporters will view your donation pages on their smartphones or tablets, so check to make sure your organization’s pages are functional and easy to navigate. Your donation form should have a large font and properly-sized images to optimize the donor experience.
Mobile-responsive donation pages dynamically change the layout, adjust text size, and increase button size to make it easy for supporters to navigate the page on a mobile device. Direct donors to your online form through text messages, emails, and social media posts. Your supporters will also be much more likely to share links to your donation page if it’s mobile-friendly.
Bonterra Guided Fundraising donation pages are mobile-responsive without the need for additional special programming, so your pages will automatically adapt to all mobile devices.
4. Mobile giving apps
Apps, unlike internet browsers, save even more time by eliminating the need to type in any URLs when navigating to tools and services on mobile devices. Mobile giving apps add another level of convenience to your donors by allowing them to complete donations with a few taps. An added bonus is that your organization can send notifications directly to your supporters’ phones.
Consider using nonprofit giving apps such as Givelify, or social media apps such as Facebook and its “Donate” button, to facilitate the giving process. Your organization can even create a custom app for donations. In your fundraising communications, be sure to share a link encouraging supporters to download and use your nonprofit’s giving app.
Enhance your fundraising with mobile giving
These types of mobile giving can be used on their own or combined in various ways to maximize your fundraising efforts. Consider adding them to more traditional methods like direct mail or in-person events to make your campaigns even more powerful.
