What text messages should your nonprofit send? You know what a good message feels like. It’s personal. Hosts James Martin and Jack Bobin break down the four types of text messages and what you should send. Jack starts with an inspiring nonprofit story. Then they talk about sending more than just donation requests. Texting is a powerful way to mobilize volunteers. You can make your text messages conversational—even at scale—and really connect with your supporters for long-term impact. People want to help, but you have to meet them in the moment and activate them.
What You’ll Learn
- Four types of messages: solicitational, transactional, informational, conversational.
- Good text messages resonate with the recipient and feel personal.
- Text messaging is good for more than just fundraising.
- Engaging volunteers through text can boost participation.
- Personify the message so it comes from an individual.
- Humanize the message to include a name. Hi James instead of Hi friend.
- Volunteers want to help, but often your ask gets overlooked.
Resources
- Free playbook with 300 templates broken down by type of message.
- Learn more about the four types of text messages.
- Some emojis can impact the length and potentially cost of your text message.
Quotables
- "You know what a good text message feels like."
- “There's a lot of concern right now that grant money might dry up, that government funding might dry up. So more and more organizations will need to become self-sufficient and reach the masses and do that in a human-centered way.”
- “If all you do is ask for money, what do you think will happen? You'll get frustrated people. It's like that neighbor that always comes over to borrow your tools.”
- “We could actually have a text group for volunteers. And then people would actually show up to help you.”
- “When someone shows up for you, that guy that says, ‘I'll help you unload the truck.’ It’s so meaningful for the staff that are constantly burdened.”
- “People tend to not opt out of informational messages.”
- “So a conversational [text message] … makes the recipient feel like it's coming from someone, not from some robot.”
- “Nonprofits don't want to offend people. But hey, you're helping starving people. You're packing backpacks for kids who have no food for the weekend. So it is personal and it's OK. And people want to help you.”
- "Humans want to help other humans."
- “I'm not going to make a decision for a volunteer or donor. I'm going to let them decide. I'm just going to put myself out there.”
- “100 years from now, nothing will matter except for the love and the lives that we've touched.”
- “Meet people in the moment and then activate them.”
Skip to What You Want to Hear
- 00:00 - Introduction to Nonprofit Text Messaging
- 01:26 - Encouraging Example: Nonprofit Providing Tech
- 05:05 - Types of Text Messages for Nonprofits: Solicitations
- 10:06 - Rallying Volunteers With Text Messages
- 15:21 - Informational and Transactional Text Messages
- 17:18 - The Sweet Spot: Conversational Text Messages
- 24:05 - You’re Doing Good and People Want to Hear About It
- 29:52 - Closing Thoughts and Future Topics
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