Clean Your Text Message Lists for a Sparkly Shine

Mobile carriers always take spam and compliance very seriously. In 2024, they started cracking down hard. So it’s super smart to practice good list “hygiene” using Rally’s mobile validation. We’ll explore why it’s important and how to do it.

Why Clean Your Text List

Deliverability matters. If you’re sending out text messages to bad phone numbers, those messages aren’t going through. Not only are those invalid cell phone numbers costing you, but they’re dinging your reputation with the carriers. Eventually, if you send SMS text messages to too many invalid numbers, you’ll start getting filtered as spam.

Even if these are legitimate opt-in numbers, something may have happened where they’re no longer good. The phone number might be out of service. Or while they didn’t unsubscribe, they did mark you as spam.

So it’s good practice to prune your list. It’s not technically a legal requirement, but we always recommend following the spirit of the law and not just the letter. (Rally founder James Martin talks about this in a recent episode of Your Rally Point podcast.)

How to Scrub That List

Rally’s mobile validation tool makes it easy to verify mobile numbers. The process confirms which numbers can receive text messages and opts out any that can’t. This will save you money by ditching useless phone numbers, boost your stats with better deliverability, and show the carriers that you’re shiny and polished, no spam here.

There is a one-time per contact fee, but it will be worth it in the long run.

Tip: We generally recommend nonprofits validate their list anytime they add numbers from a third-party database and then once a year.

We’re Here to Help

At Rally, we want your nonprofit organization to make the most of text message marketing. If you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. If you need help, we’ve got pre-written templates. If you’re not sure how it works, subscribe to Rally Coach to see it in action. Get started with Rally today.