Text Giving: A Tool, Not a Miracle

Use it wrong, and your organization can take it in the shorts.

What text-to-give does well

That's not to say text giving is a bad tool. It does one thing better than any other fundraising medium: It quickly reaches and gives outlet to an army of young people when it's stirred to action. The key point is young people.

These folks overwhelmingly aren't (yet) donors. That will come, if it comes at all, some time after they turn 50. For now, each $5 or $10 you get from them via cell phone is money you would not have collected other- wise. As long as those gifts come from an audience of nondonors, you're getting 10 bucks instead of zero every time someone uses it.

But here's the washing-windows-with-a-drill part: If you pushed just one person to give via mobile who otherwise would have given by any other medium, you lost a rather large bunch of money. (See sidebar.)

I have to wonder how many of those 300,000-some text donations that went to the Red Cross could have been $90 Web gifts that also meant warm bodies who just might give again some day. How many people scratched their philanthropic itch with a quick, anonymous 10 bucks — when they might have happily gone online and joined the ranks of connected and considerably more valuable donors?

There's no way to find a factual answer to that question. But it should haunt the dreams of the Red Cross and every other organization that makes big use of text-to-give.

And here's the other thing: While it might look like millions of dollars magically appeared in the books of the Red Cross, that's not quite how it happened. The Red Cross has a unique brand that places it top of mind when disasters strike. That's a position few other fundraisers have. Can you get Michelle Obama to tell everyone in America to text a gift to your organization? Would you be one of the three or four organizations being mentioned by millions of Facebookers and Twitterers? Each organization that raked in text gifts in January had an over-the-top brand presence, mega-celebrities pushing it or disciplined marketing strategies to get its text number out there. Usually all three.

Ways to use text giving

● Retail. If you have a commercial or retail partner that reaches a large and general audience, it can promote your offer with text-to-give as the call to action. That could generate revenue that's not otherwise coming your way.

● Events. At an event, where you have an involved audience and a clear avenue for collecting more sizeable gifts, you could use text-to-give to motivate extra giving for something specific on top of the main ask.

● Celebrities. If you have a celebrity spokesperson who doesn't appeal to folks older than 60, having him or her promote text-to-give probably makes a lot of sense.

Remember, the power drill may be a failure at medicating the cat, but it's still super at making small round holes in things. So, keep your eye on text giving. It's a changing medium, and the limitations are likely to change or even go away over time. But for now, keep your wits about you and use it carefully. FS

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