Text messaging is so effective because it’s personal. People do more texting than calling, and they see those texts almost immediately. You can make it personal by reaching out at the right time. Jack Bobin talks about a nonprofit he’s given to for a decade that does a mediocre job saying thank you and talks about simple ways they could up their game. James Martin explains how a simple donation thank you can significantly increase recurring donations. Then they explore stats and the value of click-throughs to measure action. Finally, James closes with an offer to help nonprofits get started with texting.
What You’ll Learn
- Reducing barriers to taking action is key.
- It’s vital to understand the prominence of texting.
- Personal engagement at the right time can be huge.
- A prompt thank you is crucial for donor retention.
- Engagement is all about know, like, and trust.
- Segment your audience for a personal touch.
- When you have a split second to grab their imagination, video works.
- Validate your list so your stats tell the full story.
- Click-through is the key stat because it points to who took action.
- Forget all the technical jargon, it’s about helping people.
Quotables
- “The technology of texting has strangely stayed relatively unchanged, but that’s the beautiful part of it.”
- “Text became the number one preferred form of communication on mobile devices—it surpassed phone calls.”
- “If I make a donation today and I don't hear from you at all, ever, that's a problem, right?”
- “We are not anti-email. I use email just as much, if not more than text messaging. There's a time and place for both tools.”
- “You've got to allow people to choose how they want to hear from you.”
- “I got to be honest with you—I’m always rethinking my gift.”
- “If they click that link in your text message, boy, that really means something.”
- “The most important from my vantage point as a strategist is click-through because that tells me how many eyeballs saw not only the message, but took action on the message.”
- “If you can't figure it out in eight months, then it's nice knowing you. Like, let's just be friends.”
- “At the end of the day, we are passionate about helping organizations take action.”
- “While we get all technical here, we're coming from a spot of really helping others.”
- “People like being appreciated.”
Skip to What You Want to Hear
- 00:00 - Rallying Around a Cause
- 02:46 - The Evolution of Text Messaging
- 06:01 - Text Is Personal
- 09:21 - When the Time is Right
- 11:54 - The Power of a Timely Thank You
- 15:04 - Value of a Follow-Up
- 18:24 - How to Upgrade a Consistent Donor
- 24:12 - The Immediate Impact of Text
- 26:49 - Honing in on Engaged Subscribers
- 29:01 - Why Click-Through Rates Matter
- 32:15 - 15% Click-Through Offer
- 35:14 - Don’t Get Bogged Down in Jargon
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