Nonprofit Fundraising 101

Chapter 18 Mobile Fundraising

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

—Abraham Lincoln

Introduction

Mobile is not the future; it’s here and now. The people you are trying to reach, whatever their age, are on mobile devices. People are glued to their phones these days, keeping them within arms reach (even when sleeping), checking them obsessively, and increasingly using them to find and learn about nonprofits and to donate. PayPal alone processed over $800 million in mobile nonprofit payments in 2014, an increase of 60 percent from what U.S. and Canadian organizations earned in 2013. So we’re talking about real money here, and the numbers are growing incredibly quickly. Because of this, it’s critical that your organization is ready to meet people on their devices and able to take advantage of the immense opportunity mobile provides to send fundraising appeals and communicate key messages and updates.

Today, SocialNomics says that over 40 percent of website traffic comes from mobile devices, including those of nonprofits, so if your site isn’t optimized for mobile, then you’re already behind the times. This is particularly true for email communications, since, according to MarketingLand, about two-thirds of people look at email on their mobile devices, most of which will delete or ignore your email if it’s not optimized for their device. Make no mistake, the party has already begun, and your presence is kindly requested.

Mobile and social media have changed ...