Your nonprofit organization should send text messages to donors this holiday season. You can reach people where they’re at, and it’s an incredibly effective medium. It’s an easy addition to your marketing mix and will boost touch points so you can increase donations. I’ll share seven tips to help you make the most of text message marketing this giving season (spoiler alert—they’re all about building relationships).

Texting Donors Works

I founded a company to help nonprofits mobilize people. I didn’t start a text message company. At Rally, we focus on text messaging because it works. It’s super effective. 

Put simply, you want to reach people where they’re at. And where are people today? On their phones. 

So reach them on the mobile device they’ve got with them all day long.

The stats prove the effectiveness:

• 98% open rate (vs. 25% for email)
• 48% response rate (vs 2-4% for email)
• $135 average donation (vs. $45 for email)

This is why your giving season campaign needs to include text messages. It just works.

More Touch Points

Look, we all know how marketing works. You need to communicate so many times with someone before they make that decision to donate. In traditional marketing, it takes seven touchpoints to make the sale. Sometimes it’s more.

Adding an effective medium like text messaging to your marketing mix gives you more opportunities to connect with people. It’s not in competition with your other channels, but together it will strengthen your efforts.

Tip: And it doesn’t have to be extra work. I’m a big fan of recycling.

7 Tips for Texting Donors

So let’s dive into the tips to help you make text messaging work. But I’m going to be honest—these aren’t sneaky tricks that will fool someone into trusting you and donating. Even if that kind of approach worked, it’s not sustainable and will spell doom in the long run.

No, these tips are all about building relationships. If you want a single, foolproof way to boost your donations it’s simply building relationships with your supporters.

You have to do that hard work of making connections. You have to look at the long term and earn not just this donation but the next donation. This is the path to not just repeat donations, but recurring giving.

So build those relationships. And text messaging is a great way to do it because it’s where most of us spend our time.

1. Don’t Wait for the Holidays

The first tip is don’t wait. If you only communicate with donors during the prime giving season, you’re going to be lost in the torrent of every other nonprofit asking for money. You need to be communicating year round.

• Start setup today: Setting up your text message process and campaign takes time. It can take up to six weeks to get approval. 
• Build your list: Next you need to build your list. Who are you texting? Add a sign-up pitch everywhere. Invite your email subscribers to join your text list.
• Text now: Don’t wait, start texting now. You need a regular cadence of communication to build relationships.

2. Send photos

A picture is worth a thousand words, sure. But it’s for real. A photo is a great way to boost engagement and get people to look twice at your text messages. That’s key to turning subscribers into supporters.

The kind of photos you’re able to share will vary wildly depending on the nature of your nonprofit’s work. But find a way to get photos—any photos: 

• If you’re lucky enough to be in a photogenic niche, use it. Pictures of smiling kids, cute animals, events with happy people—all wins. 
• Another approach can be photos that show accomplishment—a giant pile of donated items, before/after pics of a cleanup project, even the thermometer for your fundraiser.
• At the very least you can show your team. Highlight your people who make a difference, from truck drivers to admin assistants. The CEO or founder is an option, but make it a relatable photo of them getting their hands dirty not sitting behind a desk in corporate wear.

Tip: It’s all about the imagery—use a photo, GIF, video, or even an emoji. A simple emoji will add personality to your message. A GIF might be generic, but it shows a sense of humor. You can even use simple design tools to spice up an otherwise boring photo of your headquarters—draw on snow and holiday lights to make it timely. 

3. Make it personal

Every nonprofit is making a year-end giving pitch. You need to stand out from the crowd. One way to stand out and build relationships with your audience is to be personal. 

• It’s fine to have text messages regularly come from a corporate voice. But once in a while add a personal one. For our Rally Coaching series of texts, I throw in a personal message occasionally. I introduce myself—“Hey, this is James, Rally’s founder,”—and then I give an encouraging pep talk.
• The holidays are an easy way to make it personal. Ask your team for their favorite Thanksgiving dishes, Black Friday shopping places, memorable gifts, Christmas songs, etc. 
• Share personal stories: Why do people support your nonprofit? Ask some of your biggest supporters why they donate or your biggest volunteers why they give so much time. Have them tell their story. 

4. Reply

Go a step beyond being personal and actually reply. Texting is supposed to be conversational. So take any opportunity you have to reply. 

That can happen when supporters reply to a bulk text you sent, but you can also take advantage of peer-to-peer texting and reach out to individual supporters or small groups: 

• Reach out to top donors personally.
• Share event photos with volunteers and say thanks.
• Give your biggest fans an exclusive insight and encourage them to share with their friends.

It doesn’t have to be in-depth or serious to have an impact. If you send a Thanksgiving message and swap a few replies with someone about the best pie, you’re forging a connection.

Tips: Want to encourage more replies? Ask questions. Give them a reason to respond.

5. Tell stories

Storytelling is a powerful way to connect. But how do you tell a story in a text message? It’s not that hard:

“Our team found a stray dog with a broken leg. We rushed the poor pup into surgery and then into our foster program. That puppy lost her leg, but found a family. It’s a holiday miracle!”

See? All it takes is a few sentences to share a story and pull people in. You’re not writing a novel. Just share little glimpses of humanity and offer a window into the work your nonprofit does.

Key Resource: Does texting have a place in digital fundraising? [Podcast on Spotify]

6. Be relevant

A good way to connect during the giving season is to be relevant. Talk about the holiday or season. Specifically reference the holidays in a way that’s relatable. Refer to Black Friday shopping or New Year’s Eve parties. Talk about the winter season. 

If your nonprofit is local, lean into local. Reference the weather or use pictures from recognizable landmarks. 

The goal is to be relevant and relatable. If you’re a local nonprofit, you want to show that you’re in the community and you’re connected. A national nonprofit might not be able to connect on a local level, but they can be relatable by talking about what’s current and broadly accessible. 

This is simple and subtle, but it’s all about building relationships. You’re trying to show some personality so you stand out and give people something to relate to.

Tip: Be smart about cultural relevance. Not everybody celebrates Christmas. That doesn’t mean you can’t reference Christmas, just be aware of your audience. 

7. Say thank you

My mom always taught me to say thank you. And she’s right—you can never go wrong with gratitude. 

Yes, absolutely say thank you after someone makes a donation. Every nonprofit does that and you should too. 

But take your gratitude up a notch:

• Later on: Thank them again a month later or a year later. There’s no limit to how many times you can say thank you.
• Before: Thank them before they donate, simply for being interested in your work. It takes a lot to get through to people these days and you should be thankful they’re even listening. 
• Personal: Instead of a mass text thank you, send one-to-one messages to individual people with a specific thank you. Talk about building relationships! A high-touch approach is going to go a long way in forging those connections.

Text to Connect

So as you’re trying to bring in donations this holiday season, turn to text messaging. It’s an effective way to connect and build relationships. That’s what matters.

About Rally

Rally Corp offers text message marketing to nonprofits. But more than another tech service, we want to mobilize your mission and rally support. We love nonprofits. We want to help you get results.

• Integration: We work with your existing fundraising platform to make text-to-give simple and easy.
• Tools: We offer a wealth of tools to help you connect, including ringless voicemail, fundraising thermometers, and data append.
• Support: From webinars to office hours, we’re here to help. Check out our case studies to see how our clients rave about our support.

Learn more about text messaging with Rally.

About James Martin

James Martin is a three-time tech founder and servant leader with over two decades of experience. As the founder of Rally Corp, he helps charities and causes rally passionate supporters with a human-centered mobile communications platform built exclusively for nonprofits.