Mobile giving for "mini" donations

I recently attended the Canadian Marketing Association's Not-For-Profit Roundtable, where the discussion focused on “Top Trends in Direct Response, Events and Major Gifts.”

While I could write a hundred blogs on all the ideas thrown out, one particular discussion caught my attention.

How do you make it cost-effective to solicit donations from those Canadians who are inclined to give smaller amounts such as $5 or $10? As the cost of postage and printing goes up, direct mail isn’t cost effective for smaller donations, and you can only have so many volunteers standing in malls with daffodils or poppy pins.

Many not-for-profits are taking advantage of social media (such as Facebook) to run campaigns. After all, you have a potential audience of 700 million users. One roundtable speaker mentioned Charity Dynamics’ new Boundless fundraising application that also integrates with smart phone technology.

 With more than 25 million cell phones in hand in Canada, mobile giving is one trend that many large and small NFPs are taking advantage of.  Mobile Giving Foundation Canada “brings the power and reach of mobile phones to Registered Charities as a new fundraising and donor interaction mechanism … Registered Charities can leverage the ubiquity of mobile without the complexity, expand and cultivate a new base of givers and create permissive donor interaction.”

Donating by simply texting a word to a five-digit phone number allows the donor to give quickly and easily, as the amount is added to their cell phone bill. With trust in mobile giving increasing exponentially, donors are starting to up the ante and give larger amounts. 

Jen wrote a little last week on the need for not-for-profit groups to "go mobile" but if you were still feeling unsure, we hope this will convince you.

_{Canadian cash photo by Jacqueline Munoz, SXC. Body photo of verteran Lionel Broughton, from The Mirror, 2008.}