As fundraisers look for new ways to reach their communities, text messaging for nonprofits is becoming an increasingly popular communication method.
If you’ve never used text messaging at your organization, you may have some questions about when and how to use it. Here’s what you need to know.
Why Is Text Messaging a Good Tool for Nonprofits?
Text messages have very high open rates. On average, texts have a 98% open rate, and 90% of people will open a text message within three minutes of receipt. That’s much higher than emails or even direct mail!
Because of those very high open rates, text messaging is a really great tool for nonprofits who need to communicate with their communities quickly and efficiently.
The #1 Thing to Know About Text Messaging for Nonprofits
There are, obviously, a ton of advantages to using a communication tool that gets immediate engagement. But it’s a double-edged sword!
Texting is a very personal communication method. People are accustomed to receiving hundreds of emails a day, and getting something in the mail isn’t particularly intrusive. Your best friend probably won’t send you a cute video through email, and your mom probably won’t write you a physical letter to confirm your dinner plans next week.
Because of the very personal nature of texting, you need to be selective about when and how you use it. The same things that can make texting a fast, efficient way to communicate can also make it feel intrusive or disruptive. If you’ve ever shared your phone number to get a coupon code from a restaurant or retailer and been inundated with sales pitches, you know what we mean!
Here is the #1 rule for text messaging for nonprofits: Use it strategically and sparingly. Done well, texting can be an invaluable part of your overall communications plan. Done badly, it can alienate your supporters and harm your efforts to build relationships with them.
When to Use Texts to Communicate
It’s one thing to grasp that texting is an important tool for immediate communication that needs to be used wisely. Sure.
But what does that idea look like in practice?
You probably don’t want to use texts to send daily updates or communicate just to communicate. You’ll be most effective if you use text messaging to send very timely messages, like:
- Last-minute changes to event plans
- Reminders and details for volunteers
- Urgent, time-bound appeals
- Calls to action for things like petition signatures, rallies, etc.
- Emergency messages
You can also use text messaging to do things like send thank-you notes to your supporters and give them updates about the results of your urgent campaigns. Just remember to use it sparingly and strategically!
5 Basic Text Messaging Best Practices for Nonprofits
That note about using text messaging strategically is the most important best practice there is. Here are five more to keep in mind as you fold text messaging for nonprofits into your communication plan.
1. Make It Easy to Opt Into (and Opt Out of) Text Messages
If you want to send text messages, you’ll need to build a list of people to send them to. To do that, you’ll want to make it easy for people to opt into hearing from you through this channel. Giving people the option to opt in on donation forms, volunteer sign-up forms, event registration pages, and other locations on your site is a great place to start. You may also want to try using sign-up sheets at in-person events and then manually adding peoples’ numbers to their accounts in your nonprofit CRM.
2. Only Text Those Who Have Opted In
This is important: Only send text messages to people who have selected to receive them from you! Not doing so will result in spam complaints, being blocked, and damaged relationships with your supporters.
3. Send Relevant Messages
Take steps to make your text messages as relevant as possible to the people who receive them. You can do this by creating lists for texting, just like you create lists for email. When you create segmented audiences for texts, you’ll be able to send the right messages to the right people at the right time.
4. Keep Your Text Messages Succinct
There’s no hard and fast rule about how long your messages should be. Instead of fixating on the number of characters you use, focus on being as concise as you can. An urgent call to sign a timely petition may need more characters than a quick reminder about an upcoming volunteer shift. A note that an event venue has changed due to weather may be shorter than an emergency appeal after a natural disaster. Just keep your message focused and specific!
5. Create Good Experiences
Most (but not all) of the messages you send will involve some kind of call to action. Whether you’re asking for a donation, inviting someone to read a campaign update, or urging someone to advocate for your cause, make sure your community can act easily. Generally, this means including a link at the end of your message that they can use to get involved.
Explore Neon One’s Text Messaging Tools for Nonprofits
Looking for a text messaging tool for your nonprofit? You’re in the right place! You can use Neon CRM’s texting tools to send targeted, relevant messages to your community. It’s easy to build audiences for your messages, keep track of which people have received texts, see how else you’re communicating with them, and have two-way conversations with the people who love your work.
Want to see how it works? Check out this self-guided tour of our text-to-communicate tour!
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