18 Mar
Research about those who make text-message donations
If you’re looking to read an overview of some of the latest research about those who choose to give via text-message functionality, then you’ll want to read The Demographics of Text-Message Giving.
I wasn’t surprised to read that it was typically a younger donor (45 and below) who was most likely to give via this platform. Use of text-message giving dropped 11% after age 45 (from 14% to 3%).
What I thought was of special interest was the 29% of people with a household income of $200,000 or more who made text-message donations. Given the limits that cell phone providers have placed on how much money can be given using this platform (typically no more than $30), I wonder if in our effort to introduce a new platform, we have limited the giving capacity of those willing to give? What scares me is how much money was left on the table?
To be sure, there are people working to find a solution to this quickly. I believe they will and text-message donations will become a mainstay. But for those of us looking to this platform today to be the next goldmine, we need to be careful how and when we use this technology as part of our funding strategy. We could – inadvertently – leave dollars on the table in an effort to be efficient and “cool.”
Ben,
Great insights, as usual. I always drop by to visit your site. Love it!
Randy Redd
Thanks, Randy. I appreciate your kind words of encouragement. Blessings!
To my discredit –
– I’m a natural contrarian, so take my comment with a grain of salt.
I think raising the dollar ceiling now, before we know more about tracking these kinds of donations, increases the ability of unsafe donations to different kinds of organizations or efforts that can leverage the technology. Taking the example of the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign, there is with text donations the possibility of abuse if we raise the limit.
Certainly those who are thoughtful enough to make large donations, even to efforts that require immediate action, like World Vision responding to a disaster, will go online to make a secure and trackable donation there or write a check/wire stock?
I think you are right. There is much we have yet to understand about text message giving. Before it can become a sustainable channel, we must find a way to cultivate relationships with this medium just as we do with more traditional mediums. I think we must explore this sooner rather than later. I would also agree that many people will still gravitate toward more traditional methods to make larger gifts. However, it should be the choice of the individual how they want to give, not the decision of the organization as to how it will accept donations. The power has shifted to the individual giver. Organizations must integrate this shift into their funding strategy.
Good thoughts! Thanks for reading.