Mass Texting: A Guide for Environmental Nonprofits

There are a lot of challenges that you will face when you are trying to run an environmental non-profit. One of the biggest difficulties that most people don’t talk about is the importance of outreach.

There are currently 30,771 environmental non-profits in the United States. They need to do everything possible to stand out. One of the best things to consider is using mass texting.

While many people are concerned about the environment, they don’t know about every environmental non-profit out there. They also are somewhat skeptical of a lot of environmental organizations, since there is a lot of greenwashing these days.

For nonprofits, cutting through the noise to reach your audience is crucial. It’s also increasingly hard to accomplish. That makes sense, however. Your audience is dealing with an ever-increasing glut of communications from other sources – retailers, social media notifications, and more. You will need to do what you can to raise money for your environmental non-profit.

How do you get your message in front of your donor base? For many organizations, the answer is simple: mass texting. It’s a powerful, flexible solution that lets you jump straight to the front of the line for outreach, donations, and event coordination. This will help prove that you are an awesome eco-friendly non-profit that they can choose to donate their money to.

Why Nonprofits Should Use Mass Texting

Why tap into mass texting? We can think of plenty of reasons:

1. It’s cost-effective: If you’re looking for a way to reach your audience while reducing the cost of communications and maximizing your limited budget, mass texting can help.

2. It’s real-time communication: Mass texting is immediate, getting your message in front of recipients without any delay. In fact, 90% of mobile users open and read text messages within 30 minutes of receiving them.

3. It delivers high engagement rates: According to eMarketer, 60.5% of marketers use texting because it offers higher engagement rates than any other channel available to them, including email or even phone calls.

4. It’s super versatile: What other communication channel can you think of that can support multiple scenarios? Mass texting works for volunteer coordination, fundraising campaigns, event reminders, and so much more.

As you can see, mass texting offers some pretty compelling benefits for nonprofits. Whether you’re looking to drive volunteer signups or kickstart donations for your latest cause, text messaging can help. However, you need to know how to utilize this tool (and how not to). That means mastering a few best practices.

Best Practices for Mass Texting

To use mass texting effectively, you need to implement a few best practices. These will help maximize your reach and minimize the potential for missteps.

Segmentation

First, make sure to segment your audience. There’s nothing to be gained by sending the same text messages to everyone on your contact list. Break your list down into different segments so you can easily customize campaigns and maximize value. 

What might your segments look like? It will vary from one organization to another, but a few examples include volunteers, donors, and advocates. 

You can then break those segments down further to refine your campaigns. For instance, you might separate people in the “volunteer” segment into those who’ve never volunteered with you and those who have.

Clarity and Conciseness 

It’s important that your message is as impactful as possible. To do that, make sure you keep it clear and concise. Avoid the temptation to send long, complex texts. Keep them all clear, brief, and actionable. Greet your recipient, make your pitch, and then tell them what you want them to do. Here’s an example: “Hi, Gene. It’s almost time! Volunteer signups start next week. Mark your calendar!”

Follow the Rules

While it might seem like text-based telemarketing is a free-for-all, there are rules and regulations that you must abide by. The most important is this: don’t text anyone who hasn’t given you explicit permission to do so. It’s illegal. Not only that, but you’ll tarnish your organization’s reputation. And no one likes spammers.

Measure Your Campaign Success

It’s not enough to send mass texts. You need to track results to see what’s working and what’s not. In a perfect world, you’d conduct in-depth A/B testing with different messages to fine-tune your efforts and really drill down to find what resonates most with each audience segment. What should you track? Here’s a quick list of important metrics:

• Delivery rate: How many of the messages you’ve sent are actually reaching audience members?
• Click-through rate: How many recipients click through links in your texts?
• Conversion rate: What percentage of recipients take the desired action?
• Unsubscribe rate: What’s the percentage of recipients opting out?

Based on these metrics, you can adjust your messages, frequency, and even your overall strategy to generate better results.

How DialMyCalls Supports Nonprofits

Mass texting is a powerful tool, but most nonprofits need a helping hand to really make the most use of it. That’s where a platform like DialMyCalls comes in. For instance, you can tap into important features like SMS alerts, group texting, and more. It’s never been easier to message everyone in your organization or to reach potential donors and volunteers. Plus, you’ll discover generous discounts for nonprofits and religious organizations.

Mass Texting: The Tool Your Nonprofit Needs for Success

Nonprofits must leverage every tool at their disposal. Reaching potential donors and volunteers is harder than ever. Mass texting helps you cut through the clutter, putting your message right on your recipients’ smartphone. It’s also an invaluable tool for inter-organization communication. Looking to explore the benefits and put this tool to work on your behalf? DialMyCalls can help.