Text messages are the same way, while people tend to ignore their email around 85% of text messages are read within 15 minutes of being received. How can your organization run a successful mobile or text campaign? Well, first you need a way to connect with your potential mobile donors. 

Build your mobile list
Surprise! The information you need for your mobile fundraising campaigns doesn’t just magically appear in your system. You have to collect it.  Take every opportunity you can to make sure you donor list contains up to date cell phone and email information.  

Have rich content
Years ago, text messages were limited to 140 characters and could contain nothing but text, but not anymore. Today’s text messages can have pictures, audio and video. You can even send texts that contain shortened links to direct your donors to your mobile site. 

Test your message
Okay, so you’ve got a good mobile list and your content is interactive. Now you need to test your message. Testing is easy and affordable it ensures your message arrives intact to the intended recipients

Timing
Yes, text messages have a high open rate, but they can be ignored just as easily as emails if you send too many. Don’t inundate your donors with texts. Many organizations find the formula of one appeal a month, followed by a message of appreciation for those who donated and perhaps one more text a month works well.  

Empower your supporters 
Specific text-to-give campaigns are great, but they often limit donation amounts to $5 or $10. Direct your users to your mobile friendly site where they can give any amount they want. 

When to ask 
Text campaigns rely on many small donations to be successful. Pitch your campaign during a big event with a captive audience-remembers text-to-give donations are often on impulse-such as sports games, community events or fundraising galas.

Do more than ask for money 
Let your constituents know that text and other mobile communication from your organization are about more than money. Use the channel to find volunteers for events or give information about a rally.  Use bit.ly links to direct users to your site. A bit.ly link is a utility that allows users to shorten a long URL and share it. Donors follow the link to your site to learn more information about your mission.

Mobile friendly 
No one browses the web on a desktop anymore. Ok, so that was a slight exaggeration but studies show a significant percentage of browsing is done via mobile phone. If you don’t have a mobile friendly web site, you need to get one

Your email needs to be mobile friendly too. Important information should be easy to find. The point of your correspondence should be clear. For example, readers should be able to tell immediately if it’s a donation request or a volunteer request. Any links included in your email must be easy to click with a finger.  

If people struggle to click the link, you will lose potential donors, donations, volunteers, and risk creating ill will. A way to solve the clickable link problem is to make images clickable.