Wisconsin Public Television will be testing a "text to pledge" model that it hopes will combine the immediacy that mobile users expect with the more nuanced interaction that stations need to establish a lasting relationship with members. David Dickinson, online manager at Wisconsin Public Television, writes in a post on the PBS Station Products & Innovation blog that the station wants to provide users the ability to text a number with a pledge for any amount, then the station will contact them to fulfill payment and become a member if they choose.That approach "may offer the best of both worlds," Dickinson writes.
"We'll funnel half our mobile donation traffic to our existing page, and half the traffic to a new page asking for a text-to-pledge," he adds. "After a few months, it will be interesting to see the results."
Many nonprofits are getting interested in text-to-pledge fundraising in large part because orgs like mGive and MobileGiving require them to make $500K or more in annual revenues in order to even qualify for their services.
ReplyDeleteThat rules out most of the nonprofits right from the start.
The other thing that development directors need to understand, is that there's no quick fix to anything. Instead of seeing text donations as a silver bullet that has to rely on impulse donating, they need to do as Wisconsin Public Television is doing, and see this as one additional marketing channel that can assist, when a well-conceived strategy is implemented over a longer term.
We've been working with nonprofits for the past year to assist them with their text message fundraising needs. We built a mobile giving solution that has gained a good deal of attention from smaller nonprofits, colleges and those with operating budgets of ~$1 million. It is a text to pledge service that is flexible and customizable. Details are here for anyone who's interested
http://gnosisarts.com/home/SMS_Fundraising
I think the key - Wisconsin Public Television is showing - is to get creative with marketing and promotions of your text donation services.
Eric Bryant
Gnosis Media Group