Atlanta

Cellphone donating came into its own in the days and weeks after the earthquake in Haiti when American donors gave nearly $50-million to aid survivors via text message.

But not every organization or every mission will have the urgency or the news-media attention to drive that kind of a response, George Weiner, chief technology officer at Do Something, told participants at the Nonprofit Technology Conference.

For many charities, asking supporters for their cellphone numbers and starting to send them informational messages is the place to start, not asking for money right away, he said.

“A lot of what nonprofits do is they ask for marriage on a first date,” said Mr. Weiner. “It’s hard to find a wife that way.”

Other advice from the session: Charities that do run text-to-give campaigns need to remind potential donors that they need to respond to the text message that asks them to confirm their donation.

According to the speakers, the rate of text donations that are not confirmed—and that the charity then doesn’t receive—varies widely among campaigns depending on how clearly that reminder is included in messages.