Everyone's donors are different, so please don't just throw your giving number out there and hope everyone uses it. Think about your donors and what works best to reach them.
Create a Launch Strategy
Take a few minutes, and come up with a game plan of how you want to introduce this to your donors. If you simply throw it out there and hope for the best, your donors may not respond as well as they could have. Little effort = poor results.
Here are the types of questions that should be part of your strategy…
When are you going to launch? Pick a date that you will release your new giving option to your donors.
Will you do a buildup to the launch? Create a buildup to the launch "We have an exciting announcement coming February 12th..."
How will you launch? Will this be only on social media, or by email, or in person? We recommend getting the word out as much as you can as often as you can. Don't assume that if you post/mention it once that you reached everyone.
How will you incorporate the custom image? To make announcing this as easy as possible, we gave you a custom image with your giving number and brief instructions. Place this on social media and on your website's giving page (yes, definitely here, too) for anyone that might be curious on how to give by text.
Who will be the one to do a live donation in front of your donors? (#1 most successful approach) Someone from your leadership team should be the one to do this. People are more willing to trust something that someone they trust is doing.
How will you effectively communicate that donors must complete the one-time registration step in order for your organization to receive that donation? Simply put, tell them to text GIVE to your giving number and follow the prompts. We've built the system to walk them right through the process. First time givers will need to complete the one-time registration step in order for their donation to be complete. This step is how we obtain the donor’s information for your records, issue the donation receipt for you, and how the payment processor process the donation and deposits into the bank account that you have specified with them. If the donor does not complete the one-time registration step, you will not receive their gift until they do. Our system will send out 3 reminders, but it's always great to mention it upfront if you can.
How will you educate your staff and donors? What do they need to do to give using your new text giving option? Simply put, they need to be able to answer the question "How do I give by text?" which is just to text GIVE to your giving number and follow the prompts. Encourage your staff to use text giving, too. It'll be much easier to answer questions if they are familiar with it.
How/Where will you advertise this? Placing giving information in easy to find places for your donors is crucial. Don't be afraid to think outside the box, too.
Here are a few some ideas on how to advertise your number, but feel free to get creative : )
show your customized image on a large screen as someone from your leadership team does a live gift, as donors are being seated, or during your “ask” time
on social media account(s)
on your website - this lets donors easily find your giving number incase the forgot to save it to their contacts. This also lets online givers know there is another easier option.
emails - simply include the giving info in a signature line so that it is always there for the donor to see, or use anytime.
newsletters
printed materials
t-shirts
give aways
9. Keep Donors Regularly Engaged. Engagement is one of the most important aspects of your success. Donors want to be in the know. They want to know how their donations are helping, so make sure that you are letting them know that on a regular basis. Post a quick video posted to your social media account or website, or an email about what great things their donation allowed you to accomplish goes a long way with donors!! Statistically, it makes them give more often, and more overall to your organization. Think of all the awesome things that your organization could do!
