Upgrade Your Fundraising Campaigns with Mobile Giving

The nonprofit world is hearing a lot about mobile giving these days. Mobile giving is more than just a buzzword. It’s a tool that fundraisers can use to boost the performance of their fundraising campaigns, generating more revenue for their organizations.

Mobile giving is even more powerful when it’s integrated into broader campaigns that include both offline elements (such as mailings) and wider digital elements (such as retargeted ads). In this article, we’ll share why mobile giving works so well, the trends you should take advantage of, and some ideas for integrating mobile giving into your campaigns.

What is Mobile Giving?

But first, what is mobile giving? And how is it different from online giving? Online giving refers to any type of giving that’s done via the internet. It’s a broad category that comprises many tactics and forms of giving.

Mobile giving is a subcategory of online giving. Its defining characteristic is the use of a smartphone or mobile device. Each time a donor uses a mobile device to make a donation, it’s considered mobile giving. This form of online giving is a fairly broad category in and of itself, encompassing several tactics. Mobile giving includes:

• Gifts made by text (text-to-give)
• Gifts sent via email on a mobile device (mobile email)
• Gifts sent through mobile-responsive donation pages
• Gifts sent via mobile apps

Why Mobile Giving Works

Network for Good has found that mobile giving is responsible for 33% of all gifts on our customers’ donation pages. There are several reasons why mobile giving is growing. Consider these statistics from Nonprofits Source:

• 25% of donors complete their donations on mobile devices.
• 54% of nonprofit emails are read on a mobile device.
• 51% of people who visit a nonprofit’s website do so on a mobile device.
• 1 in 4 donors uses mobile devices to discover nonprofits they were previously unaware of.

Modern life is fast-paced. As people juggle responsibilities, they’re on the go, and they’re taking the internet with them. Not only do a vast majority of Americans (77% of U.S. adults) own a smartphone, one in five American adults is a “smartphone-only” internet user—they own a smartphone instead of traditional home internet service.

As reliance on mobile devices grows, new trends in giving have developed. If nonprofits are going to make the most of this fact, they need to focus on making it easier and faster for donors to engage with the organization and give on their mobile devices.

Mobile Giving Trends

The statistics speak powerfully about the wave of opportunity available with mobile giving. Let’s look at three specific trends that further demonstrate why a mobile giving strategy is so important for today’s nonprofits.

Smartphones are everywhere.

Smartphone use has skyrocketed in recent years and continues to rise. In 2011, only 35% of Americans owned a smartphone. Just six years later, that percentage jumped to 77%.

Millennials give through their smartphones.

Millennials are more tuned in to nonprofit work than previous generations have been at the same age. A whopping 98% of Millennials own a smartphone, and 37% have used a smartphone to donate.

Mobile giving performance continues to improve.

That mobile giving is a fast-growing trend is obvious when you look at mobile giving growth year over year. Today, 25% of donors complete their donations on mobile devices, up from 14% in 2015.

Integrate Mobile Giving into All Campaigns

While you can run mobile-only campaigns that are focused on the four forms of mobile giving described above, mobile giving is even more effective when it becomes a part of other campaigns. Easy ways to integrate mobile giving into your existing campaigns include:

• Add your mobile donation page URL or a QR code to email appeals, directing donors to your mobile-responsive donation page.
• Include your mobile donation page URL in your direct mail appeals, in case donors want to immediately check out your page on the way back from the mailbox.
• Advertise your mobile-giving app in publications and wherever you place ads.
• Include a text-to-give number on event swag.

The potential for mobile giving to increase your fundraising revenue is significant. And since it’s growing so rapidly, nonprofits are smart to explore ways to integrate it into their campaigns. Simultaneously make the donation process easier and faster for your donors, while increasing the number of donations you receive.

Download Network for Good’s eGuide, “The Ultimate Guide to Mobile Giving,” to learn how to launch your mobile giving initiative today.