6 Ways Nonprofits Can Use Text Fundraising Effectively

1. Boost event attendance

Many nonprofits count on events to raise awareness, drive fundraising, attract volunteers, and say thanks to their supporters. But ensuring your events, whether digital or in-person, are well-attended requires a lot of communication. This is where text fundraising (SMS marketing for nonprofits) can help.

• Pre-event reminders – Send text messages to remind attendees about upcoming fundraising events, including essential details like time, date, and location. This helps ensure a higher turnout.
• Last-minute updates – Use text fundraising to communicate any last-minute changes, such as venue shifts or new speakers, to keep everyone informed.
• Post-event follow-up – Send thank-you messages and share event highlights to show appreciation and maintain engagement.

2. Streamline volunteer management

One of the ways nonprofits overcome the challenges of limited time, resources, and staff is by utilizing passionate, dedicated volunteers to help support their mission. Keeping volunteers informed and ready to deploy is a key use case of SMS marketing for nonprofits, including:

• Schedule confirmations – Quickly confirm volunteer schedules and find replacements if needed.
• Emergency alerts – Send urgent updates, such as office closures due to weather, or requests for additional volunteers.
• Recruitment – Use text fundraising to recruit new volunteers by sharing opportunities and links to sign-up forms.

3. Drive donations and pledges

Keeping in touch with donors who are passionate about your cause and ready to donate has gotten more complex. Crowded email inboxes and complex social media algorithms can make timely outreach a challenge. For nonprofits, SMS marketing can work alongside email and social outreach to provide timely, urgent support when it’s time to drive donations.

• Timed campaigns – Launch timed donation campaigns with clear goals and deadlines to create a sense of urgency.
• Follow-up messages – Pair text fundraising with email marketing to remind donors of deadlines and update them on fundraising progress.
• Personalized requests – Tailor messages to specific donors to make them feel valued and connected to your cause.

4. Confirm and say thank you

A critical part of any fundraising campaign is making sure your donors know how much their contribution means to the nonprofit and its mission. Using text fundraising to provide confirmation of their donation, or a heartfelt thank-you message, can go a long way toward securing support in the future.

• Instant confirmation – Send a quick text to confirm that a donation has been received, alleviating any concerns and showing immediate gratitude.
• Detailed follow-up – Follow up with a more personalized, formal thank-you at the conclusion of the campaign to make sure donors know their contribution has made an impact.

5. Make your text messages unique

What you share on social media, email, and text fundraising (SMS) should differ from one another. One good way to do this is to think of SMS as your VIP channel– a level of access and information for your most loyal supporters. 

• Exclusive Information – Make your SMS subscribers feel special with exclusive access, like sneak peeks of big projects, or early access to event tickets. 
• Succinct and timely content – While social media might be great for imagery and video, and email works well for longer messages, your SMS channel is where you can be brief and right on time for the best results. 

6. Expand your contact list to include SMS

The odds are that you already have a mailing list of your donors, community partners, volunteers, and other supporters. By collecting text fundraising information and consent from your contacts, you can ensure you’re reaching them exactly where and when they want to hear from you.

• Online opt-ins – Add an opt-in option at the footer of your emails and on your website.
• In-person sign-ups – Use sign-up forms at events and when talking to people in person.
• Text-to-join – Implement text-to-join to make it easy for people to sign up via text fundraising.

By integrating these strategies into your nonprofit’s communication plan, you can enhance engagement, improve event turnout, and strengthen relationships with your community. Start small, get consent, and watch your impact grow. 

Just like text fundraising is the perfect partner for your existing digital marketing strategies, Constant Contact and DonorPerfect work together to help you engage your audience, track donations, and make the process of fundraising that much easier. 

Constant Contact makes digital marketing easy and effective for small businesses and nonprofits around the world. Whether just starting or managing complex multi-channel campaigns, Nonprofits benefit from our powerful platform that delivers a simplified marketing experience with less time spent and better results. With cutting-edge technology, best-in-class deliverability, and award-winning customer support, we help the small stand tall.