How to Build a Text to Give Strategy That Wins

Mobile fundraising is the latest frontier for nonprofit giving, but you need a text to give strategy. Plan out your marketing so you’re specifically targeting the right donors and making the most of text to give fundraising. Integrating text-to-donate into your broader fundraising campaigns can help maximize your reach and impact by engaging supporters where they are most active.

Don’t just throw this new technology against the wall and see what sticks. Instead think through a serious marketing strategy. Encourage supporters to participate by promoting text to donate across multiple channels, such as social media and direct mail, to increase engagement and drive more donations.

Make sure to provide clear instructions to donors to ensure a smooth donation process.

Why Use Text to Give?

Wait a minute—why should nonprofit organizations use a text to donate campaign in the first place? That’s a good question. It’s important to understand why text to give can be so effective. Text giving is a proven mobile fundraising method that enables donors to contribute quickly and conveniently using their mobile devices.

• Nearly everyone has a mobile phone these days, and donors can use their cell phone to give easily from anywhere, at any time.
• The process is fast and simple—supporters just text a keyword to a dedicated number and receive a link to complete their donation. Having a mobile donation form and an online donation form that are optimized for mobile devices is essential for a seamless and secure donor experience.
• Text to donate campaigns are highly effective for urgent fundraising needs, such as disaster relief or time-sensitive campaigns, because they allow organizations to reach supporters instantly and drive immediate action.

The average donation size for text-to-donate campaigns is $107, which is significantly higher than traditional text-to-give donations. Additionally, text-to-donate allows nonprofits to collect full donor data, enabling future engagement and stewardship.

3 Reasons Why Text to Give Works

Let’s look at just three reasons why we think text to give can be effective for you:

1. Reach people where they are: Where are people today? Mostly on their mobile phones. Americans carry their cell phones 24/7 and use them everywhere—from the bathroom to the bedroom. Text message marketing allows you to reach them where they are right now. It’s why the open rates and response rates for text messaging are so much better than email or social media.
2. Make it easy to give: The text-to-give process is simple. You ask people to text a keyword to a short code (text RALLY to 24365, as an example—try it!). The text to give platform automatically sends a link to your donation form where they can complete their donation from their phone. No remembering to do it later. No typing in a long URL. No waiting for an email.
3. Build a foundation to connect: One-time donations are great, but a successful nonprofit organization wants recurring donations. You want those new donors to come back. That happens by building a relationship. Because you can reach people where they are, text messaging allows for a personal, effective connection going forward. It’s a contact you control, not subject to the fickle social media platforms. With text-to-donate, you can easily facilitate recurring giving by enabling donors to set up automated, ongoing donations directly from their mobile devices, increasing donor retention and long-term support.

At the end of the day, Rally Corp’s goal is to mobilize your mission. We want to see nonprofits build a following and be able to rally those people to action. SMS text messaging is a powerful way to do that. Text-to-donate campaigns can yield a 25% higher fulfillment rate compared to text-to-give campaigns, and the average donation size is around $107—significantly higher than traditional methods.

What is Text to Give

I'm passionate about text to give, also known as text to donate, because it's the mobile fundraising method that actually empowers your donors to support their favorite causes with just a few taps on their mobile device. Instead of forcing them to navigate to a clunky website or mail a check like it's 1995, your supporters simply send a text message with a specific keyword to a designated phone number. Instantly, they receive a reply with a link to a mobile friendly donation page, where they can enter their donation amount and payment information securely. This is how fundraising should work.

This streamlined process makes giving accessible anytime, anywhere—whether someone is at your fundraising event, scrolling through social media, or reading your direct mail piece. The convenience of text to give means your donors are more likely to complete their donation on the spot, helping your organization raise funds quickly and efficiently. With a well-designed mobile donation page, the entire experience—from text message to confirmation—can be completed in just a few clicks, making it one of the most effective mobile fundraising methods available today. If your donors aren't giving, it's not your cause. It's your method.

What's Your Goal?

The next step for successful text-to-give fundraising is to clearly establish your goals. What do you hope to accomplish with your text to donate campaign?

• Increase donations: Yes, more giving is a big win. That’s an obvious and common goal. You should absolutely aim for this, but be aware that it’s not the only goal.
• Grow your list: A secondary fundraising goal should be to grow your contact list with more phone numbers and donors’ names. Remember, one of the reasons to use text messaging is to connect with people and grow your list long term. Think beyond your next fundraising campaign.
• Build donor relationships: Since you want to grow that list and build a foundation to connect, one of your goals should be to engage donors. More than getting them to give money, you want to start a relationship that will turn them into recurring donors. That happens with engagement, telling stories, sharing results, saying thank you.
• Event engagement: A lot of text-to-give campaigns are tied to fundraisers. You might have an upcoming charity auction, gala, or other fundraising event. Text to give is ideal for a live audience where you can quickly communicate how to donate in the moment. People can literally pull out their phones and give! That’s huge. Use a specific text to donate keyword and text to donate code to simplify the donation process during events and make it easy for attendees to participate. But remember long-term engagement—don’t ramp up text messages for your fundraiser and then go quiet. You should be texting all year long.

Tracking campaign progress is essential for motivating donors and optimizing your fundraising strategy. Use tools like fundraising thermometers and real-time reporting features to visualize and monitor your campaign’s performance. Be sure to monitor key metrics such as open rates and conversion rates to evaluate the effectiveness of your text-to-donate campaign and make data-driven improvements.

Using your organization’s verified mobile numbers guarantees that you will reach almost every recipient of your text-to-donate campaign, maximizing your campaign’s reach and impact.

Build Text to Give Campaign Strategies to Accomplish Those Goals

Now that we understand the power of text to give and have looked at specific goals we can talk fundraising strategy.

When setting up a text to donate campaign, it’s crucial to select a reputable service provider that is PCI-compliant to ensure text to give secure transactions and build donor trust. The right service provider will also ensure compatibility across mobile carriers and help maintain payment security.

Leverage text to give software and text to give services to streamline the donation process. These solutions enable supporters to donate quickly via text messaging by sending a keyword, making it simple for donors to contribute without leaving their mobile device. Many text to give services also offer features like recurring donation setup and donation caps, further enhancing the donor experience.

Be sure to register all A2P messaging with mobile carriers to comply with messaging regulations. Additionally, include clear opt-out instructions in every text message to meet legal requirements such as TCPA and GDPR.

Choosing a Text to Give Provider

Selecting the right text to give provider isn't just important—it's critical for nonprofits serious about mobile fundraising success. Not all platforms deserve your trust, so cut through the marketing noise and evaluate providers based on what actually matters: reputation, features, and real value. Look for a text to give provider that delivers a user-friendly interface, rock-solid security, and responsive customer support that treats you like a partner, not a transaction. Does the platform integrate seamlessly with your existing donor database or CRM? Does it provide actionable analytics that actually help you understand your campaign's performance—not just vanity metrics? Compare pricing structures with intention, including setup fees, monthly costs, and transaction fees, because hidden costs kill budgets and waste resources your mission can't afford. Popular providers like Qgiv, MobileCause GiveSmart), and Rally Corp have earned recognition in the nonprofit sector, but don't settle for popular—demand demos, ask hard questions, and find the partner that fits your unique needs. The right provider won't just accept donations; they'll help you engage donors with respect, grow your fundraising efforts with purpose, and make every interaction count toward moving your mission forward.

Creating a Donation Form

A compelling donation form isn't just important—it's everything when it comes to your text-to-give success. Here's what I know after watching too many campaigns fail: your donors are on their phones, period. So if your form isn't mobile-friendly, lightning-fast, and dead simple to navigate, you're basically asking people to jump through hoops while they're trying to help your cause. Cut the clutter—don't bombard potential supporters with endless fields and complicated steps. Ask only for what you truly need to process that donation and follow up properly, because every extra click is another chance for someone who wants to give to simply give up instead.

Understanding the Text to Donate Process

The text to donate process isn't just seamless—it's transformative for both your donors and your organization. This isn't complicated fundraising theory. This is practical mobile engagement that actually works. Here's exactly how it happens:

1. Your donor sends a text message with a specific keyword to your designated phone number or short code—no apps to download, no complicated forms to navigate.
2. They immediately receive a reply containing a link to a mobile friendly donation page—instant gratification in a world where people expect immediate responses.
3. Your donor clicks the link, which opens the donation page directly on their mobile device—meeting them exactly where they already are.
4. On your donation page, they enter their desired donation amount and payment information—simple, secure, and designed for the device in their hand.
5. After submitting their donation, your donor receives a confirmation message, often with a heartfelt thank you and a clear summary of their gift—because acknowledgment matters.

This straightforward process doesn't just remove barriers to giving—it eliminates excuses. Your supporters can contribute in just a few clicks, without friction, without frustration, without having to remember to "donate later." By leveraging the convenience of mobile devices that your donors already live on, you're not just boosting participation. You're revolutionizing how your organization connects with people who care about your mission, driving more donations through campaigns that actually respect your supporters' time and attention.

Use Text to Give Everywhere

The power of text message fundraising is that it’s easy, so make it ubiquitous. Roll it out everywhere you might interact with potential donors:

• Social media: Share your text-to-give campaign on social media posts, videos, and more. Make it quick and obvious how to donate. Put it in your about info. Share it in videos, both in audio and in on-screen graphics. Works great for those social media platforms who limit links and make it hard to send people to your donate form. Leverage your social media channels to promote the campaign and encourage supporters to share it with their networks for greater reach.
• Direct mail: You can pair your text-to-give campaign with a QR code and use that QR code in print materials. It’s way easier to pull out your phone, scan a QR code, and go straight to the donation form than have to type in a URL—or even worse, mail a check!
• Events: Put your keywords and short code combo on screen. Use the QR code on table tents, posters, and other printed material around your nonprofit fundraiser. Share the keyword and short code from the stage. The Rock School for Dance Education found big success when they asked people to silence their phones—but first consider a donation while their phones are out.
• Peer fundraising: This kind of ubiquitous marketing campaign makes it easy for your supporters to spread the word. They might not link to your donate page, but a simple keyword and short code is something they can pass along. But only if they hear it repeatedly and that repetition allows it to sink in. Using peer to peer fundraising can further expand your campaign’s reach by empowering supporters to fundraise on your behalf.
• Press: The keyword and short code is ideal to share in interviews and press conferences. Make sure your spokesperson shares it often.
• Text message reminders and targeted campaigns: Send timely text message reminders to boost participation and donation success. Use text fundraising campaigns with targeted keywords and real-time updates to encourage supporters to donate via SMS, especially during virtual events or special appeals.

To maximize results, create urgency in your messages by using deadlines or matching gift opportunities to encourage immediate donations. Incorporate multimedia messaging (MMS) with photos or videos in your text campaigns to increase conversion rates.

Text to Give Platform Tools Can Leverage Donations

Take advantage of the many fundraising tools to leverage more mobile donations.

• At an in-person or online fundraising event, an interactive fundraising thermometer can be a powerful way to create competition, display campaign progress in real time, and even increase donation amounts. Real-time tracking and visual displays motivate donors and help optimize your fundraising strategy.
• Use a mobile donation form and online donation form to provide secure, user-friendly giving options. Optimized forms make it easy for donors to give quickly and safely from any device.
• Expand your donor information with data append and personalize your follow-up messages.
• Use Rally Insights to look at your new donors and create new segments for targeted responses.
• Automate thank you messages and donation receipts to immediately acknowledge gifts and enhance donor relations post-donation.
• Encourage donors to complete their text to donate pledge by providing clear, mobile-friendly instructions and engaging follow-up content.
• Drop a ringless voicemail from your CEO for a star-powered thank you.

Note: Design your mobile-optimized donation page with minimal fields to prevent donor abandonment and maximize conversions.

Get Your Team on Board

It’s important to get your team on board with text-to-give donations. That’s one way to make sure your nonprofit is using it everywhere—make sure the whole team understands the donation process, the benefits of text donations, and is on board with mobile giving. Provide clear instructions to your team on how to use text to give, including step-by-step guidance and straightforward messaging to ensure everyone can confidently support donors.

This works best as a top-down strategy. Get your leadership on board, whether it’s a founder or CEO. When they understand the simplicity of it, they can share it everywhere they go. This does wonders for My360Project, where founder Darryl Carnley drops “text SHOES to 24365” everywhere he goes with impressive results.

Make additional resources available for staff training and ongoing support to help your team maximize the impact of your text-to-donate campaign.

Build a Follow-up Plan

Engaging donors means you need to move beyond one-time donations. You want to convert new donors into recurring donors. That happens with engagement and connection. So create a plan for multiple text messages to follow up on that first donation.

Here are a few suggestions for a text-to-give follow-up campaign:

• Say thank you: Your parents taught you manners, plus gratitude is another connection point. Automate thank you messages and personalize them by addressing supporters by name and referencing their past contributions to strengthen donor relationships.
• Share results: Talk about what their donation is accomplishing or share the success of your fundraiser. Help people understand what their giving does and make them feel like a part of the team.
• Tell a story: Showcase the work your nonprofit does and how it makes a difference. Now that they’re on board, this is what they’re a part of. It’s OK to brag about what you accomplish—donors want to know they’re part of something amazing.
• Next steps: Share opportunities to get more involved. Talk about future events or upcoming volunteer opportunities.
• Use text to pledge and text to donate pledge: Encourage donors to make a text to pledge or a text to donate pledge, and use automated reminders to help them complete their commitments. This approach simplifies the process, increases pledge fulfillment, and keeps donors engaged throughout your campaign.
• Give more: Once you’ve had multiple touchpoints and opportunities to build that relationship, then it’s OK to ask for another donation. But make sure you build that foundation first.

Text-to-donate also allows you to collect valuable donor data that text-to-give does not provide, enabling more effective future engagement.

Ongoing Donor Engagement Connection

Whatever text to give strategies you put in place, remember that text to give isn't a one-time use, it should be a consistent way to connect.

Analyzing Donor Data

Look, if you want to maximize the impact of your text to give campaign, you can't just wing it and hope for the best. I've seen too many organizations throwing campaigns out there without really digging into their donor data—and then they wonder why the results fall flat. It's not that your cause isn't worthy. It's that you're missing the insights hiding in your own data. Track the key metrics that actually matter, dive deep into how your donors behave, and use those findings to refine your approach with intention and precision. When nonprofits take the time to truly understand their supporter patterns and measure what's working versus what's just noise, that's when they unlock real opportunities for growth and start building campaigns that genuinely connect.

Understanding Payment Processing Fees

Listen, when you're leveraging text-to-give platforms for your nonprofit, you need to understand what those payment processing fees are actually costing you—because every percentage point matters when you're fighting for your mission. These fees typically hit you for 2% to 5% of each donation, and that range isn't just some arbitrary number—it depends on which provider you choose and what payment methods you're willing to accept. Too many organizations get blindsided by these costs, thinking they're just minor details, but here's the reality: those fees add up fast, and they're eating into funds that should be going directly to your cause. You can't afford to ignore this. Your supporters are already stepping up to give—don't let processing fees diminish their impact because you didn't do your homework on the back end.

Text to Give Strategy: We Can Help

At Rally Corp, we’re here to help you get results. We’d love to talk strategy and set up text to donate to create an effective giving experience for your nonprofit. Our tools and experience can boost your fundraising efforts, maximize donor engagement, and propel your cause forward.

• Text-to-donate platform: Choose a text to donate platform that offers mobile-friendly forms, secure payment processing, and data tracking capabilities. Mobile fundraising is easy with our fundraising tools. People can text a custom keyword to a short code and get a quick link to your donation form. It uses your existing online giving process, so it’s streamlined and user-friendly. They can use a credit card or debit card right on their mobile device through your online donation page. Our platform integrates with CRM systems to streamline donation processes and improve donor engagement. The average donation amount for text-to-donate is significantly higher than for text-to-give, which is often capped at lower amounts. Organizations should keep their text-to-donate keywords simple and memorable to avoid confusion and errors. Our platform allows you to collect valuable donor data that traditional text-to-give options do not provide. For example, the Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation raised over $1 million, Boy Scouts of America raised $48,000 from 390 donors, and the Red Cross raised $32 million during the Haiti earthquake relief efforts using text-to-donate and text-to-give campaigns.
• How does text to give work? Text-to-give typically involves donors texting a keyword to a number, agreeing to a set donation amount that is added to their phone bill. After donors pay their phone bills, cellular companies transfer the funds to nonprofits, which can cause delays in fund delivery. While the text to give option is convenient and popular among diverse donor demographics, it is often seen as less ideal for nonprofits due to its limitations in donor engagement and retention.
• Giving tools: We offer integration with multiple fundraising platforms and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, plus other integrations, and fundraising tools including ringless voicemail, a fundraising thermometer, and Rally Insights to supercharge your donor data.
• Solid support: Our functionality is simple and easy to use, but if you ever need help we’re here. We’ve got FAQs, pre-written text message templates, webinars, office hours, and more. Plus, we’re happy to take a real-time voice call. We also help you navigate phone bills processing and ensure secure transactions for your donors. Just check out our case studies and see how our nonprofit customers rave about our customer service.

Book a demo today and let’s talk about your text to give strategy and how we can help you get results.