The current issue of Blue Avocado includes an interview with Doug Plank, the founder and Chairman/CEO of MobileCause, a fundraising firm based in California. The interview focuses on the role text messaging can play in communicating with donors. Plank points out that on average 40% of first-time website visitors arrive through the cell phones and 30% of adults in the US have their email sent to their phones. Although Plank is interested in the use of text messages, these statistics serve as excellent reminders to nonprofit arts organizations should ensure that either their website is mobile phone-friendly or, if possible, that they have a mobile version of the site. Likewise, when configuring emails, they should be legible and well-designed for a variety of mail clients, including those that are used on mobile phones. The Plank interview also raises the issue of the landline’s demise. Increasingly, donors simply do not have one. Since most donors are unlikely to wish to receive calls to their mobile phones, text messages offer one way to reach donors by phone without calling them. Plank also points out that the cost to donors to send and receive text messages has decreased over time, making it cheaper for the donor to receive a text than a call in some circumstances.
On a technology front, the interview is interesting in that it clearly argues for the use of text messaging to reach donors. Ensuring that mobile and landline phone numbers are adequately delineated is something that database programs will need to offer their clients. Organizations will also need to ensure that they are capable of sending the text messages, subscribing and unsubscribing recipients, and find ways of evaluating the success (or not) of using texts to communicate with donors. As someone without a landline, I would agree that most mobile phone users don’t wish to be called. Although I personally am not interested in receiving texts from organizations, I also agree with Plank’s point that this should be an opt-in system with a very easy unsubscribe option.
According to Plank, more people have cell phones than Twitter accounts. Is text messaging really the next wave in donor communication? Further research is clearly required, but another question is also raised: what kinds of internal technology changes, if any, are going to be required of nonprofits if text messaging really does take off as a key communication tool? Plank's argument really hinges on the number of people that text messaging, versus Twitter, can access. He unfortunately doesn't make the case for the content of text messages being more desirable or beneficial to the sender/receiver than that of a tweet. Given the work of his company, Plank clearly has much to gain by having organizations adopt texting as a key communication element. On the other hand, nonprofits need to be able to communicate with their donors and patrons in the way that best fits the relationship. Just because I'd personally prefer to not be texted by an organization doesn't mean someone else wouldn't prefer this to a tweet.
-Adrienne
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