Are donors willing to give their cellphone numbers to charity?
Allyson Kapin, a marketing consultant, notes in Frogloop that the recent success by the American Red Cross—which raised more than $31-million through cellphone text messages after the Haitian earthquake—has many charities eager to try mobile fund raising. To do that effectively, however, charities needs to gather the cellphone numbers of potential supporters.
But doing so might be hard. Charities that require people to provide a cellphone number—when making a donation, signing a petition, or joining an event—could put off many potential supporters, she acknowledges.
Still, with a growing number of Americans giving up their land lines in favor of mobile phones, Ms. Kapin notes, organizations may find that people are increasingly willing to share their cell numbers.
During the presidential election, organizations like Rock the Vote say people under age 30 were often willing to share their cellphone numbers. And the Obama campaign told those who did that they would be the first to learn who the candidate’s running mate was.
To get people to willingly offer their cellphone numbers in the same way, Ms. Kapin writes, “nonprofits would hve to find a compelling enough hook.”
Does your organization collect cellphone numbers of donors and other constituents? If so, how have you motivated people to share this information?
0 Responses to Should Charities Collect Donors’ Cellphone Numbers?
ryanscott - February 19, 2010 at 6:27 pm
“To do that effectively, however, charities needs to gather the cellphone numbers of potential supporters”That’s not exactly how it works. You can’t text people and ask them to donate (at this point, that would be horribly ineffective). Instead you advertise to them other ways with a very simple call to action: TEXT this TO that. The benefit is the simple call to action, and the fact that it can be used just about anywhere – from a stage, on a tv commercial, etc. No credit card required and no internet. So its perfect for impulse donating. People can donate the very instant they feel the urge to do so. Should charities collect cell phone numbers? Maybe – on an opt-in basis only, and only if you are clear what you are going to be sending them. Very few people want organizations texting them, however. Do Something uses it to send volunteer opportunities, and although I don’t know how effective that is, its very clear what you are getting in exchange for giving out your cell phone number. Cell phone donations work great – its really not about collecting numbers however. For example Ben Stiller recently used it on Conan Obrien for his StillerStrong.org campaign. It outperformed online form-based donations by an order of magnitude. We also provided it for a Malaria No More event and it generated about $60,000 in donations. This was at a live event – there is no better way to generate donations in such a situation.Ryan ScottCausecast
misssmith - February 24, 2010 at 2:39 pm
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