Webinar | The Year of Mobile: How SMS Will Transform Your Nonprofit Communications

transcript

The Year of Mobile: How SMS Will Transform Your Nonprofit Communications Presented by:

Michael Sabat, Mobile Commons VP of Business Development, michael@mobilecommons.com Hemly Ordonez, Fission Strategy VP Digital Strategy & Mobilization, hemly@fissionstrategy.com Maria Cruz Lee, Define American Engagement Director, maria@defineamerican.com

✓  Why every nonprofit should build a mobile list

✓  How Define American acquired and mobilized

hundreds of SMS subscribers

✓  Best practices for engaging your supporters with text

messaging

Text sampleDA to 97779 to join Define American’s mobile list!

What You Will Learn Today 2

Organizations Using Text Messaging 3

About Mobile Commons 4

The Solution Web application for managing mobile communications:

•  Text messaging

•  Multimedia messaging

•  Pictures and videos

•  Phone calls

•  Mobile web

•  Mobile transactions

Why Text Messaging

Every Phone Can Text 6

Text messaging is the predominant way people communicate •  Almost every person in the United States owns a mobile phone.

•  Virtually all mobile phones can send and receive text messages.

•  The average American sends and receives 41.5 text messages per day.

58% of the population owns

a smartphone.

Reach Underserved Populations 7

Underserved populations over-index for text messaging

•  Text messaging usage is the highest among young adults ages 18-29, but the fastest growing group of text message users are those ages 50-64.

•  Households who make less than $30,000/year text twice as much as households who make more than $75,000/year.

Text Messaging is Effective 8

Text messaging is fastest way to reach the most people •  Text messages are the most likely to be noticed first and responded to immediately

compared to emails, voicemails, and mobile app notifications.

•  74% of smartphone users experience “icon overflow,” or have too many mobile apps.

Nonprofit SMS vs. Email Statistics 9

Open Rate Click-through Rate Response Rate Conversion Rate List Growth

14.06%

Benefits of Text Messaging 10

•  Recruit more people

•  Drive more action More Donations

More Volunteers

More On-the-Ground Action

More Advocacy Phone calls

Define American Case Study

Text sampleDA to 97779 to see sample texts!

Define American

In partnership with CNN, a national premiere of the film was announced on June 5th and Define American invited 38 partners and their constituents to host watch parties across America.

This was an opportunity to engage new audiences, and in partnership with Fission Strategy, Define American decided to test a new mobile strategy.

The Documented Goal

The Pledge Making It Personal

The Strategy

The challenge is to develop thousands of individual leaders that relate to your cause over mobile. We focus on empowering individuals to act on their own, and have the skills to organize and impact their own communities.

Organizational familiarity

Take the pledge

Gain access to information

Share messages

Invite friends to join

Become a host

Ladder of Engagement

●  5/11 Messages from Jose Antonio Vargas on Mothers Day

●  5/23 Memorial Day Message from

Captain Conrad & Share ●  6/10 Sign up to host a watch party

●  6/23 Sign up to host a watch party

●  6/28 Join a watch party

●  6/29 Documented premieres in 30

minutes

Messaging

Hosting Results

Viewing Results

Border Crisis

McAllen, Texas

July 15, 2014

Results from JAV Border Crisis

Mobile Engagement + Targeting

SMS Best Practices

Design Effective Calls to Action 25

To build your mobile list, you need to reach your target audience and get them to opt in to your campaign. Here is a list of best practices for designing an effective call to action to ensure a big, happy mobile list:

Be Clear

Be Concise

Be Bold

Provide Value

Be Compliant

Build on Existing Resources 26

Promote your call to action on your existing channels

Audience Awareness

Mobile strategies benefit from in person events and in person events benefit from mobile. Define American models the importance of centering individuals who are encouraged to continue the conversation & learn more with those around them.

Fission worked with Define American to nurture new mobile relationships and work to shift the culture on how people feel about immigration in America.

Mobile <-> Offline Events

Using a model of a networked ladder of engagement, we look for opportunities to expand the ladder model into offline interactions to build stronger communities of supporters and activists from mobile in target communities.

Organizational familiarity

Take the pledge

Gain access to information

Share messages

Invite friends to join

Become a host

Ladder of Engagement

1.  Provide unique story sharing opportunities through mobile."

"2.  Don’t get stuck trying to share the whole

story.""3.  Think of mobile texting as a sneak preview

for your audience. ""4.  Give them access to your network by setting

up recognizable individuals as senders. """"""

The Power of Stories Through Mobile

Tips & Opportunities 31

Action comes from regular, varied conversations that move supporters up your ladder of engagement

•  Use a text message quiz to test your supporters’ knowledge about an issue

•  Share a recent news story that promotes your organization’s efforts

•  Consult your text message subscribers for ideas for your next campaign

•  Tell a story about how your organization has made an impact on the community

•  Create a text message survey to get feedback on your latest campaign

•  Send a picture or GIF message and thank your users for their support

Thank You! Contact information:

Michael Sabat, Mobile Commons VP of Business Development, michael@mobilecommons.com Hemly Ordonez, Fission Strategy VP Digital Strategy & Mobilization, hemly@fissionstrategy.com Maria Cruz Lee, Define American Engagement Director, maria@defineamerican.com

Webinar | The Year of Mobile: How SMS Will Transform Your Nonprofit Communications

Government & Nonprofit