Transcript Joining the Mobile Revolution: Using Text Messaging to

Joining the Mobile
Revolution:
Using Text Messaging to Help
Your Organization Thrive
It’s All About You!!!
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET OUT
OF TODAY’S WEBINAR?
WHAT WAS YOUR MOTIVATION FOR
REGISTERING?
DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC TOPICS
YOU WANT TO FOCUS ON?
Texting… What’s the Big Deal?
 83% of American adults own cell phones and 3/4 of
them (73%) send and receive text messages.

Pew Research Center
 85%of people read an unread text message within 15
minutes of receiving it, while only 15% of people
open an unread email
It’s Required: Nonprofit Organizations and Mobile Marketing, textopoly
http://www.textopoly.com/blog/2011/02/its-required-nonprofit-organizations-mobilemarketing/

Opinion Poll
Do these stats match your experience?


Question 1: What percentage of people in
your network are texting?
A.
About ¾ of the people I know are
texting
B.
In my network over 75% of people are
texting
C.
In my network, less than %75 are
texting
Question 2: Do you read a text message
quicker than an email?

Yes, I read text messages first

No, I read emails first
How are Non Profits Using
Text Messaging?
Advocacy & Calls to Action
Ask people to make phone calls
to elected officials
You can even include a phone
number for people with smart
phones to click on so they can
make the call immediately!
Announce emergency rallies and/or
last minute events via text
and increase the likelihood of last
minute information getting to
people in time
Volunteer Coordination
Send reminders for trainings and/or upcoming volunteer
opportunities
Use texting for coordination during events where
internet access is not available
Event Reminders/Cancelations
Increase Attendance
Decrease the Stress
Send don’t forget day of
reminders for events
Quickly notifying people of
info such as new venue, time
change etc.
Donor
Cultivation
and
Fundraising
Recruit new
supporters at
events by having
people text-in to
join your list
Send texts with
updates regarding
fundraising goals
and other news
Launch creative text to give campaigns
The Campaign that Swept the Nation
Text-to-Give Campaign:
American Red Cross
Haiti Disaster Relief
 People texted in to donate $10
 All money went to Red Cross
 $800,ooo raised in one day!
 $5 million raised by day two

Info from THE MOBILE FRONTIER: Text-To-Give
& Beyond
http://www.fundraising123.org/files/Convio_Net
workforGood_Mobile_Guide.pdf
Doing A Red Cross Style Campaign
What That Means
Cost of a mGive Campaign
 $500 one time setup fee
 One year contract is required
 Monthly fee - $199 - $799
 People can only give $5 or $10
 $.35 per transaction fee
 %3.5 percent of the
 They can only give up to $25
per month
 You need 26 donations of
$10/month or 311/year to
break even!
amount donated

Pricing info comes directly from the mGive website:
http://www.mgive.com/Pricing.aspx

My full article on the topic
http://www.frontrangesource.com/wpcontent/uploads/2011/07/DebraBrownArticle.pdf
The Good News Is…
There are other players in the game and companies
creating new models:

Connect2Give thttp://www.connect2give.com/

g8wave: http://www.g8wave.com/

Give.mobi - http://give.mobi/paypal

Give by Cell - http://www.givebycell.com/

Mgood - http://www.mgood.com/

Mobile Commons http://www.mobilecommons.com/

Sumo Text - http://www.sumotext.com/sms-giving.html
Text to donate
grassroots style
with any service
provider:

Text in and get a
link to a donation
page

Text in and have
your development
director follow-up
with the pledge

Text in and turn
over records to
professional
phone bank
Text to Donate Grassroots Style
How Do We Know?
DETERMINING IF
TEXT MESSAGING IS
RIGHT FOR YOUR
ORGANIZATION
The Most Important Factor
Is text messaging right for your constituency?
When all else fails, ASK your people if they want to be contacted via text message!
Will it work within your
Have a team
organization?
discussion
about the
three T’s:
Time
Talent
Treasure
Do you have adequate staff support?
Yes, We Want It!!! Now What???
HOW TO
GET FROM
HERE
TO HERE
WITHOUT
DOING
THIS
Develop a Plan for Your Texting Program
 Align the program with your organizational goals
 Figure out who will do what
 Come up with a marketing plan
 Select a vendor
 Start texting!
 Evaluate R.O.I.
Integrate Text Messaging Into Your Work
 If you launch a text messaging program for the sake
of jumping on the bandwagon, it will likely flop.
 But if you strategize very
intentionally about how
to use text messaging to
advance your organizational
goals, it will likely succeed!
Some Real Life Examples
Customers who started with a goal for their program:

Rights for All People

Planned Parenthood Maryland

Ohio AFL-CIO

Christ in Youth and BBYO, Inc.

Houston Fire Department

Subaru
Your Turn…
CAN YOU THINK OF ANY WAY
YOUR ORGANIZATION COULD
ADVANCE YOUR MISSION
WITH TEXT MESSAGING?
Figure Out Who Will Do What and When
 What needs to be done to get the program up and
running and who will do it?
 If possible, designate a single point person to
coordinate the texting program on an ongoing basis.
 You can also have each staff member brainstorm
how texting can supplement their existing work.
Develop A
Marketing and
Outreach Plan
It is important to think
through how you will
get people to join your
texting group.
There are a variety of
strategies you can use.
Your best bet is
experimenting to find
out what works best
with your audience.
Some ways you can get people to
join your texting program include:
Text to join
Widgets
Importing your database or a list
Text To Join
TO SEE HOW THIS WORKS:
TEXT: NTEN
TO: 32075
WIDGETS
You can have
people join
your texting list
directly from
your website by
using a widget.
You can even
have people
join a specific
sub-list.
Here is a sample of our widget:
Importing Your Database
Almost all text messaging service providers make it easy for you to
add people to your texting list by uploading an Excel or CSV file
Opt-In is the name
of the game…
There are Federal
Trade Commission
(FTC) and Federal
Communications
Commission rules
that prohibit the
sending of
unsolicited text
messages.
What are the rules for sending text
messages?
Finding the Right Vendor
It’s all about asking
the right questions.
Some questions you might
want to ask potential vendors:
Is your service compatible with all cell
phone carriers and prepaid services?
What does your pricing include, and is it
monthly or do we have to sign a contract?
What features and functionality do you
have that distinguishes you from your
competitors?
How long have you been in business?
Can you provide me with a list of existing
customers?
Some Vendors to Look Into Include:
There are an endless number of text messaging service providers out there.
The following are companies we know to be legitimate.
CellTrust – http://www.celltrust.com
Eztexting - http://www.eztexting.com
Mobile Commons - http://www.mobilecommons.com
MobilizeUs – http://mobilizeus.com
Sumo Text - http://www.sumotext.com/sms-giving.html
Tatango - http://www.tatango.com
Trumphia - http://trumpia.com
Start Texting!!!
 Give the program time to
develop
 Solicit feedback early in the
game
 Course correct as necessary
Evaluating Your Texting Program
Return on Investment
 Did text messaging make
your staff more efficient?
Save them time? Consume
less paper?
 Did your texting lead to
more or increased
donations?
Evaluation frame provided by THE MOBILE
FRONTIER: Text-To-Give & Beyond:
http://www.fundraising123.org/files/Convio_Netwo
rkforGood_Mobile_Guide.pdf
Return on Engagement
 Did your texting program
make it easier for people
to take action?
 Enable you to recruit
new supporters
 Build loyalty to your
organization
Contact Information
Debra Brown
Phone:
720-917-4900
Email:
[email protected]
http://www.MobilizeUs.com