Mobile fundraising: much more than $10 text gifts

by Rick Christ

In Sweden, donors to Doctors Without Borders are invited to “follow” a health care worker in a far-away country each week, on their mobile phones. They get a message daily that links to a short video, played on their phone. At the end of the week, the viewers are thanked and invited to contribute $5 by phone to “subscribe” to the next week’s messages from a different health care worker in a different country.

After a year, those donors were called – on their phones – and asked to make a bigger gift. A whopping 90% made an additional gift.

Not here in the United States, you say? Not yet, maybe. But soon.

Is your web site mobile-friendly?

In the fourth quarter of 2010, more smart phones were sold than PC’s. By the end of 2011, there will be as many smart phones in the US as there are “dumb” (“feature”) phones. People – your most wired, most tech-savvy, presumably most influential donors – will be reading their emails and surfing the web on their smart phones.

• You need to optimize your web site so that your most important pages are viewed as neatly on a smart phone as they are on a laptop.
• You need to make sure your email messages render attractively on all the major smart phone platforms (Apple, Android, Blackberry). 

Are you building a list of mobile supporters?

Ask your donors to join your mobile campaign – even before you’ve worked out exactly what your mobile campaign will be.

• Invite them to give you their mobile numbers on your web site, on direct mail reply forms, and at special events
• Start sending them useful information that supports your accountability and transparency as an organization
• Invite them to interact with you via mobile, FaceBook, and other media  

Get the whole story

Read Amergent’s authoritative guide: Mobile Communications for Nonprofits. Download it free. And call (or text) Rick Christ, VP Online Fundraising, at 540-335-5677 to get started.