Tag Archives: single giving

Why are charities using text-to-donate?

I am sure you often wonder when you’re working within your charity or fundraising role, what is the best way to go with your next campaigns? Or why are charities starting to use SMS donations more and more now?

We have put together a few of our main thoughts as to why charities may choose text-giving over other methods, or else to add to their list of donation collection methods.

User-friendly

Our first thought is that text-to-give is incredibly user-friendly. There are no forms, fuss or verification checks required. The donor simply texts their chosen charities “keyword” to the 5 digit shortcodes and a donation is made.

People don’t often like to partake in anything that takes up too much of their time or requires long-haul forms. It is also user-friendly for the charity. Text campaigns can be created and inactivated in a matter of minutes. This helps to reach deadlines that little bit easier.

Quick and Easy

SMS Giving is also quick and easy to do. It takes around 60 seconds or less to send a donation by text. If someone wanted to give a charitable donation without much effort – SMS is the answer.

Most people within the UK today either own or have access to a mobile phone, therefore, it is one of the most effective ways to make a donation. If you are at an event with no change in your pocket, no problem – you probably will most likely have your phone with you so the donation can be made easily through your phone. Donations can be as little as £1 too.

Detailed reporting on progress

Reporting is so important when it comes to SMS fundraising, you need to be able to monitor the progress and measure the success of your campaigns.

Mobile Fundraising and Engagement with InstaGiv has a realm of various reporting functions from your inbound campaign report, consent and opt-in report, Gift Aid collection report and much more.

Our regular giving reporting displays everything from the number of subscriptions per month, number of new sign-ups, gross donations per donation, number of skips and stops, retention percentages and much more. This is essential and is readily available with InstaGiv campaigns.

These are just to name a few; the reasons are endless as to why charities continue to choose SMS giving as part of their fundraising efforts. Other thoughts we had include:

  • It’s cost-effective
  • Has a fast turnaround
  • Works in real time
  • It can be accessed 24/7 among lots of other benefits

We hope you enjoyed this week’s blog if you have any thoughts you would like us to focus on we would be happy to hear them. Reach out to us at help@instagiv.com.

More from instaGiv

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A Look at UK Charitable Giving in 2017

The latest CAF report reveals a lot of info on Charitable Giving

The most recent Charitable Giving report from the Charities Aid Foundation has revealed some interesting information about how people in the UK choose to donate to charities.

They interviewed around 12,000 people to build up a picture of the charity sector in the UK in 2017.

The CAF UK Giving 2018 report reveals the extent of charitable giving and provides information on the most popular methods and frequencies of donations.

The report shows that the total amount given to charity in 2017 was £10.3 billion, an increase from 2016’s figure of £9.7 billion.

Charitable Giving – When and How

The CAF also found that November and December were the months that saw the most donations, continuing a trend from 2016. They believe that this can be attributed to various popular campaigns during these months, including Movember and appeals during the Christmas period.

Donating cash continues to be the most common way of giving money to charity, with around 55% of people using this method in 2017. Yet this is slowly becoming less popular.

The report shows that most donors tend to give “from time to time”, around a quarter donate monthly, while just 4% give weekly. Around 13% of those interviewed said they rarely give to charity and about 5% said that they never donate.

Giving online or via text both saw increases over the year, particularly in April, November and December. These increases tended to be related to popular appeals like Comic Relief and Children in Need.

There remains a consistent number giving less regularly, with 13% saying they give to charity rarely and 5% stating that they never give.

Charitable Giving – Who Gives?

Some of the most interesting information in the report concerned the donations of different age groups. The data shows that 16% of people aged 16-24 have not donated or worked with a charity in the past year, compared to just 8% of people aged 65 and over.

The stats also showed that of the younger group of donors, they were significantly less likely to donate on a regular basis compared to the 65+ group.

The older group tend to give the most money and generally donate by direct debit (42%), membership fees (24%), cheque (17%) or by credit card (8%). The youngest group were more likely to support charities through a fundraising event (31%) and by debit card (15%), while those aged 25-44 are the most likely to give via text (14%).

Charitable Giving via SMS

Looking at the stats, text giving is a great tool for charities. The use of cash is decreasing, while younger groups are more likely to donate via text.

Donating via SMS is a really quick and easy way for supporters to donate. There’s no fuss around bank details, or debit and credit cards, as their donation is simply added to their monthly phone bill.

Better yet, it’s a great way for charities to increase the frequency of regular donations. With a simple text, a supporter can sign up to make regular donations either monthly or weekly.

With instaGiv, charities can easily set up customised text giving campaigns using the fully-equipped self-service platform. This gives you the tools to organise competitions via SMS, send mass outbound SMS messages, organise Gift Aid and much more.

On top of that, you’ll get expert support and guidance on campaigns from the instaGiv team.