Yesterday I had a delightful phone interview with Jenifer Snyder, executive director of The mGive Foundation. She is very passionate about her work in helping nonprofits raise awareness, raise funds, and cultivate relationships with donors and prospects through the mobile channel.

mGive Foundation report on donor mobile behavior

Earlier today the Foundation published a press release announcing the results of a survey that examined the behavior of mobile text donors and how they like to use this channel: Text Giving Donor Survey Report.

It’s the first of its kind.

The Text Giving Donor Survey was commissioned by the Foundation; researched and written by CCS (consulting and management firm for nonprofits).

As Jen Snyder said during her interview with me, “There’s a lot of conjecture and speculation in the marketplace, but no authoritative metrics behind that data. We consider ourselves a leader in this arena and felt it was time to conduct this survey; to get some authoritative data.  Now we understand more about the demographics of donors and we can answer questions from nonprofits in an educated fashion.” 

Today I share highlights of the survey, insights from the discussion I had with Jen Snyder regarding the data, plus you can also listen to an excerpt of my interview with her.  I encourage you to take a few minutes to listen because we talk about aspects of the survey and how nonprofits can benefit from mobile that you won’t find in the report.

Highlights of the “Text Giving Donor Survey Report”

- “86% of respondents who give via text are willing to consider giving larger amounts via other channels.” In other words, a $5 or $10 text-to-give donation won’t keep them from giving more online, via direct mail, or other channels.

- Closely related to the previous bullet is this result: “79% of respondents who give to a nonprofit via text have also given to that same nonprofit via email, website or direct mail.”  They’re reporting what they have actually done as opposed to stating what they might do.  As surveys and research go, that’s an important distinction.

   This result also emphasizes the importance of integrated multi-channel campaigns.  And intetration applies equally to fundraising, advocacy, and cultivation.

- 66% are highly educated with undergraduate or graduate degrees

- 62% of respondents give to 2 or more nonprofits via text; and 12% give to 4 or more!

- The top two reasons cited for giving by text: 1) convenience, and 2) the giver was already connected to the organization’s cause.

Speaking of convenience . . . “Donors today are more sophisticated than ever. Donors want options when it comes to charitable giving, and they want to see the organizations they support incorporating new technologies to reach them more effectively,” shared CCS Operational Vice President, Peter Hoskow (firm that researched and wrote the survey commissioned by The mGive Foundation). 

Make it easy for the donors.  Give them choices.  Donate via direct mail, email, website, mobile, etc.  Remember, with mobile you’re part of a donor’s private world.  Mobile devices are how they communicate with friends and family, as well as look up where to eat and what to do (there’s an idea – make your nonprofit museum, concert hall, theater, wildlife refuge, etc. easy to find via mobile). 

Join donors, advocates, members and all your supporters in this very personal space known as mobile.

And don’t assume that only the teens and twenty-someones will engage with you via mobile.  Jen Snyder and I talked about this at some length.  First the data:

35% of respondents were Millennials (ages 16-33)
24% – Generation X (34-44)
23% – Boomers2 (45-55)
14% – Baby Boomers (56-65)
 4% – Seniors (66+)

Granted the majority of respondents were Millennials, but look at how evenly matched GenX and Boomers2 are (24% and 23%, respectively).  Here’s what Jen had to say about this:

“Having a better understanding of who mobile donors are – education levels, ages – I think that’s going to be critical.

Nonprofits are having a very difficult time attracting new donors, including Millennials.  Mobile is an excellent way to engage a different generation and needs to be part of a holistic strategy.

Our study confirms that mobile is most effective (at this moment in time) with Millennials.  But you’ve got GenX and Boomers heavily engaged as well.

The fact that this technology [mobile] is somewhat ubiquitous among all the different generations is critical and important going forward.”

And while we’re on the general topic of “engaging donors,” Jen and I also talked about cultivation during the interview.  For those of you who follow my blog and my newsletter, you know that using mobile for cultivation is the soap box I’m often on. 

Snyder agrees that, “Mobile is such an easy way to keep donors and constituents engaged.  Cultivating relationships and keeping them alive is critical so they stay with you over longer periods of time.  Use mobile to keep them feeling happy, connected and fulfilled.”  Yes, mobile is a tool/channel perfectly suited for cultivation.

I’ll publish more on my interview with Jen Snyder in future posts – parts of our discussion that went beyond the pure results of the mGive Foundatin survey.

But now you get the chance to hear for yourself some of Snyder’s comments from the interview.

Questions you’ll only hear answered in the interview are (i.e., this recorded discussion isn’t part of the Text Giving Donor Survey Report you can find at mGive.org):

1 – What’s the #1 question nonprofits ask about mobile; and how does the survey dispel the myth surrounding this question?

2 – Over 56% of survey respondents “rated their experience with text giving as excellent or good.”  I asked Jen Snyder how it can get better.  Any idea what’s missing that could raise that great number even higher than it already is?

3 – What do you [Jen Snyder] believe is the most important concept for nonprofits to understand about mobile?

Finally, I’ll close with another quote from CCS (mGive Foundation’s research partner in this survey): “Mobile giving can be an excellent vehicle for nonprofits to diversify their fundraising programs,” says Hoskow. 

Whether you want to add to your current understanding of mobile, or you need a tutorial to guide you from A-to-Z on what it is; how it works; and ALL the ways mobile can benefit your nonprofit . . .

Mobile for Nonprofits – Connecting to Donors Through the Power of Mobile

How do the results of this survey change your thoughts about nonprofits including mobile in the marketing, cultivation and fundraising mix?

If you’re among the majority of nonprofits with a communications staff (i.e., marketing and fundraising), comprised of one or two, or maybe three or four people . . . then this post is especially relevant for you.

A few days ago I interviewed Kivi Leroux Miller, author of “The Nonprofit Marketing Guide: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause.”   We talked about key topics covered in her book released in early June 2010.

And you can listen to our discussion on helping small nonprofits market their cause by clicking on the play link below.  You’ll get a few takeaways you can use right now, and learn more about what’s covered in her book.

This quote from Kivi summarizes the reason she wrote her book, and how small nonprofits benefit from it:

“No matter how little financial support you have, or how few staff people you have, you can still do really good communications and marketing for your cause.  You can go reach out and touch people with a good call to action to get them to support your work.  You can do this in a few hours per week.”

That ought to encourage you!  Hopefully it also motivates you to listen to our chat, and to make the small investment to buy Kivi’s book.

Kivi and I talk about . . .

o donor cultivation
o how marketing fits in with building stronger loyalty and relationships with your donors
o the importance of an integrated multichannel marketing plan
o setting priorities for an integrated plan and how to deal with a few of the challenges that come with it

Here’s my interview with Kivi Leroux Miller on marketing for small nonprofits.

Hopefully you’ve applied for and received a Google Grant to fund your nonprofit Google Adwords campaigns.  Regardless of whether you’re paying for the ads out of your budget, or using a Grant . . . you still want to approach the campaign wisely.

I interviewed Howie Jacobson, PhD, author of “Adwords for Dummies.”  Dr. Jacobson has worked with large and medium-sized corporations as well as numerous nonprofit organizations.

I asked him: Before a charity spends a dime on Google Adwords, what is the ONE question they must clearly answer before getting started?

Click here to watch the 2:15 minute video with Howie’s answer for your nonprofit.

Related posts:

Is Google Adwords a good strategy for nonprofits?

Google Grants and Adwords … which is more valuable? A click or a conversion?

Let’s set the scene:  You have applied for and received a Google Grant for Adwords.  You’re excited and launch a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign for acquisition – you want more donors.  (NOTE: There are many ways to use Adwords to help your charity; acquisition is just one way.)

Your PPC campaign has a click through rate (CTR) of say, 2% at the end of a week.  You make some adjustments and it increases to 3.5%.  You’re feeling pretty good.

Is your PPC campaign a success?

I don’t know.  CTR doesn’t equate to a new donor or additional revenue.  What you really need to know is how many of the visitors that click on your ad become donors after reading your landing page.  In other words: What is the conversion rate for your landing page?  Are they taking the desired action such as making a donation?

Let me say this again: You don’t acquire a new donor when they click on your ad.  Therefore high CTR’s are not your ultimate goal.  The conversion rate for your landing page is where you find the payoff.  Conversion is what brings in new donors, more revenue, etc.

Look at the big picture

A successful PPC campaign depends not only on ad quality, but also on your keyword research, how you structure your campaign, and it most definitely depends on a quality landing page.  Your landing page continues the conversation the ad started.  And again, the landing page is the secret to higher conversion rates.  That’s a snapshot of the big picture.

Your PPC campaign will also benefit by executing the work in this step-by-step sequence:

1. keyword research
2. structure the ad groups and campaigns
3. write the landing page (and you will likely need more than one landing page)
4. write the ads (each ad must compliment the corresponding landing page)
5. go “live” with the campaign

Your nonprofit can benefit in many ways by running Google PPC campaigsn.  But first you need a good start.  I interviewed Dr. Howie Jacobson, author of “Adwords for Dummies.” I asked Howie for 3 tips to help your charity get started with Adwords … he replied with FOUR tips.

Click here for Howie’s 4 Google Adwords tips for nonprofits video with Karen Zapp.

Related posts:

One question you MUST answer before launching Google Adwords for your nonprofit

Is Google Adwords a good strategy for nonprofits … and why?

That question is succinctly answered in an interview I did with Howie Jacobson, PhD.  Howie is the author of Adwords for Dummies and Google Adwords for Dummies.

There are many benefits for charities that wisely include Google Adwords in their fundraising and marketing strategies.

For example: You can draw in prospects to your inspiring stories and content through Adwords. This is a viable form of inbound marketing which people are becoming more and more receptive to at the expense of “outbound” efforts.

Watch this 2 ½ minute video with Howie Jacobson where he answers the question: For nonprofits with a tight budget, is Google AdWords a good strategy for finding new donors?

PLUS he shares a valuable tip on how Adwords can also help testing of your direct mail campaigns.

Click here to watch the video.

Related posts:

ONE question to answer BEFORE launching Google Adwords

Which is more valuable? A click or a conversion from Adwords?