15 Text Message Tips for Year-End Campaigns

As we speed toward the end of the calendar year, nonprofit organizations are working frantically to implement their year-end campaigns. We’ve been there. Amid the busyness of the season, can we offer a little help?

We’ve got 15 simple tips to help you make the most of a year-end text message campaign. These are simple ideas to help increase donations and boost engagement. Afterall, we love nonprofits and we’re here to help.

15 Year-End Fundraising Tips for Text Messaging

So let’s get to these simple tips for year-end fundraising:

1. More Than Fundraising‍
   If all you ever do is ask for money, people will unsubscribe. Include a mix of updates, stories, thank yous, and more so it’s not just fundraising plea after fundraising plea. People got enough of that during the election! ‍
2. Why?‍
   If you’re asking for donations at the end of the year, you better answer the most important question: why? People are bombarded with requests at this time of year, so why is yours so urgent? Focus on specific reasons (e.g., matching grant with an impending deadline) and emphasize clear need (hungry families, homeless people out in the cold, lost pets, etc.).
3. Offer Real Value
   Share information of real value that’s important to your supporters. That could be stats of your impact, stories from people you serve, insights from the past year, etc. Give them something tangible.
4. Keep It Short
   Text messages are short. Make sure your message is brief and to the point. Use short, punchy sentences. Our 10 tips for writing short messages can help.
5. How Often?
   There’s a tendency with text messaging to be overly worried about sending too many updates. Certainly you don’t want to overdo it. But texting is such an instant medium that it’s not the same as email. It’s OK to send that initial donation ask, and then follow it up with a quick reminder or two over the next few days or week. Keep that reminder short.
6. Segment Your List
   Another way to avoid overdoing it is to segment your list and specifically target certain groups. If you see someone has donated, stop sending them donation requests! Send a thank you note instead. Target a group of volunteers and reference your recent volunteer event—this kind of personal outreach will be more effective.
7. What Time? ‍
   Text messaging is an instant medium, so you’re going to get a better response if you send texts when people are available. Depending on your audience, that often means evenings.
8. What Day? ‍
   Text messaging is also an urgent medium, so you want to send your messages on days that have urgency. If you’re counting down to a deadline, those closing days and especially the final day are key. If you’re working toward the end of the year, definitely schedule a message for December 31.
9. Be Human
   The more you can make your year-end text message personal, the more it’s going to connect. Make it come from a real person, like your founder or CEO. “Hi, this is James, Rally’s founder,” is a simple way to start a text message that’s more human and more likely to connect. As a bonus, include a picture of James (see our next tip).
10. Engage With Images
    You can use multimedia messaging service (MMS) to send images, GIFs, and videos. These visuals will draw attention and boost engagement. Not only will they help you stick out from the crowd, but they’re also an opportunity to include your branding and give people that visual confidence that this is a legit message they can trust.
11. Embrace the Holidays
    It is the holiday season, so go ahead and embrace the vibes as it makes sense for your nonprofit. Holiday lights and snowflakes can work for anyone, though Santa hats or explicit references to Christmas or Hanukkah might only work for religious nonprofits.
12. Be Local
    Local nonprofit organizations should embrace their local community. That might mean holiday lights on cactus for an organization in Arizona or a Minnesota nonprofit mocking the cold with shorts. An appropriate holiday or seasonal angle is great, but even just using recognizable photos of your town can help you connect with locals.
13. Give Updates
    Send text messages with updates about how your year-end campaign is going. People like to feel like part of the team, so keep them updated. Any success is a shared win, so celebrate those milestones with your supporters. The tone of these updates should be gratitude and not ‘give us more,’ though people might naturally donate more as they see how close you’re getting to a goal.
14. Keep It Going
    Don’t just send texts in December. You need a year-round strategy to connect and engage with your supporters. If you haven’t been doing that before, start now. Schedule your year-end texts, but then start scheduling in January as well. Build that consistent, ongoing relationship with your donors now.
15. Have Fun
    Keep your year-end text messages positive, upbeat, and joyful. Have fun with it. Include emojis. Be a little goofy. If you’re having fun creating messages, your audience will feel the love.

Check out our four-step year-end giving strategy for more specifics on how to engage at the end of the year.

Rally Can Help

Whether you’re implementing your latest SMS campaign or just getting started with text message marketing, we’re here to help:

• Tools: We offer integrations with your preferred fundraising platform, CRM, donation form, and more. We offer mass texting, two-way texting, MMS, and more. Our functionality and workflows can boost donor engagement, encourage peer fundraising, increase recurring donations, and in general make your mobile fundraising more effective.
• Support: We care about customer experience. We’ve got multiple options for help including FAQs, templates, and webinars. Plus, we’re happy to get on a phone call and talk through any issues. Check out our case studies to see how nonprofits rave about our support and user-friendly system.
• Not sure: If you’re still not sure about SMS text messaging, we’re happy to show you a demo, walk through strategy, and take a voice call to talk pricing options.

‍Get started: Sign up now to start using Rally and start your year-end text message campaign.