There are numerous less fortunate people living in the world. Some of them survive on the littlest of means while some off of alms begged from people. Basic amenities such as food, clothes and shelter are dreams for the lot of them and most essentially die of starvation.
Although the government has decided schemes for the poor, they mostly desperately depend on charities from those who are privileged and those who can provide. Various NGOs and other nonprofit organizations carry out such charities through various ways such as clothes drive, food drive and text-to-donate campaigns.
What Is A Text-To-Donate Campaign?
Text-to-donate campaign, which can also be referred to as text-to-give is a campaign that lets generous people give financial donations to a nonprofit organization through their phones via messages. This type of campaign is very convenient as people can make donations from the comfort of their homes.
How Does A Text-To-Donate Campaign Work?
Nonprofits have to register to a text-to-donate software first. Once they have registered, the software will render a phone number for the organization through which the donations will follow.
From the donor’s side, they can do both, text the amount of money they would like to donate, for example $20, and they can also type a short code, for instance “REDCROSS” to the number provided by the nonprofit.
After this, the donors will get a link on their mobile devices to ensure their donations and to provide their bank details. This process is so seamless that if that same donor wants to give more donations to the same organization, all he has to do is message “donate” to the number and the donation will take place with the information that has already been given.
Importance Of Text-To-Donate Campaign In Today’s World
In today’s world of cutthroat competition, charities are more necessary than ever. Prices of basic goods are always rising and the poor who could only afford scraps in the past, can afford absolutely nothing now.
While the modern world has its flaws, its tools can be used for the greater good. The Internet and social media are great instruments. They bring people together and people can learn about each other’s problems.
Text-to-donate campaigns can be very prevalent in today’s time owing to social media. Since most people are already on social media, they can easily sit in their homes and donate without having to leave the house.
This campaign will not be restricted to a particular geographical location as donations can come from all over the world. Nonprofits today use social media to give their advertisements and use it to their benefit, as much as they can. They should definitely use text-to-donate campaigns for its convenience.
How To Promote A Text-To-Donate Campaign On Social Media?
While there are many ways to promote a text-to-donate campaign, it is essentially a marketing campaign. Thus, the best marketing strategy will win the best donations. The ways to promote a text-to-donate campaign are…
Promotion
The best way to promote a text-to-donate campaign is by promoting the campaign itself. If donors don’t know that such a campaign exists, they will not be able to donate. Thus, apart from the physical promotions such as putting up banners, rallies and events and advertising on the website, social media, which is an exceptional tool that can be used for promotion, must be used extensively.
Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are more prevalent among today’s people than anything so promoting the text-to-donate campaign on those platforms are the most ideal.
Social media can also act as incentives. If a progress bar is added along with the campaign post and donors see a particular campaign is going to reach its goal within a few hours, they will feel the incentive to donate and help it reach its goal.
Simple Shortcode
Every text-to-donate software provides a nonprofit organization with a number in order to obtain the donations. It is the organization that has to specify themselves through a short code for people to understand.
The short code which can be some letters and/or numbers joined together is very pertinent to text-to-donate campaigns. Social media demands it to be absolutely specific so that donors can identify the nonprofit.
Short codes should be unique so that they catch the attention of the donors as there are a number of other nonprofits all around the social media and it should be short and simple and not a complex string of characters so that donors can easily type in.
Simple Forms
After texting the amount of money to be donated or the short code on the number provided by the nonprofit, donors will be directed to a form that ensures the transaction is successful. The form should be very simple to understand. It should be transparent, self-explanatory and clear.
Jargons and complex wordings should be avoided as they may unnerve the donors. The forms should also ensure total security as the donors are providing their bank details.
Instruct the Donors
The donors need not know how text-to-donate works. It is the organization’s responsibility to instruct the donors on how to donate through a text-to-donate campaign. Thus, social media can be used to educate the people.
Tweets, posts, sharing pictures and videos and live sessions can all be done to propagate instructions among potential donors.
Multiple Contribution Options
Organizations need to understand that not all donors are affluent enough. Therefore having multiple donating options is necessary. While some will give a large amount of donation, some might give the most basic of $10. Every contribution is important, no matter how big or small. They will make a world of difference for someone.
Gratitude
Apart from these, a very easy way to promote a campaign is simply to thank the donors. Expressing gratitude to the donors can help in donor retention. People will feel that they have donated to a right cause if they receive a customized letter or small note. This also incentivizes the donors.
They say charity begins at home and charity makes the world a little better place for those who don’t have anything. Text-to-donate campaigns help in bringing people together through charities.
