Four ways to recruit regular donors to give via their phone bill

By Les Beech, Account Manager at Cymba

Over the past few decades, regular giving has become increasingly important for charities, which is why so many have adopted Direct Debits.

In 2011, Cymba launched Connected, a regular giving SMS platform, to give charities another way to accept regular donations.

The system enables charities to take donations from donors' phones on a 30-day cycle, similar to a Direct Debit. However, donors have control over regular gifts, as they can decide whether to give in any given month.

The platform meets the Phone-paid Services Authority's (PSA) standards, which state that donors must be reminded every 29 days of who they're giving to, how much they're giving, and how to skip payments.

Connected complements our client's efforts to promote regular giving by Direct Debit, which is why it's a valuable platform for anyone looking to recruit regular donors. 

Let's look at ways you can encourage and secure regular giving platform SMS (RGPSMS) donations.

1. Telephone agency drop ask

Initially, this was the primary way for charities to ask donors for a regular donation from their phone bill or RGPSMS. The client promotes a keyword, for example, 'CAT', and a short code, for example, 70007.

Cymba then forwards the phone numbers of those who responded - minus any opt-outs - to the clients' telephone fundraising agency, which then calls to ask for a Direct Debit donation. If the member of the public declines to make a Direct Debit donation, then as part of the negotiating cycle, the fundraiser asks if they would like to make a regular donation via their mobile phone bill.

If the prospective donor says 'yes,' the fundraiser sends a text message to their phone asking them to reply YES to sign up for an RGPSMS donation. This text message is followed by a message confirming what they have signed up for to comply with PSA regulations. At this point, their phone is charged for the first time.

Doing this enables the client to sign up additional donors, which helps to reduce the cost per acquisition and generate a further group of regular giving donors. Cymba's clients typically see a conversion rate of around 5 – 6 per cent of people signing up to an RGPSMS regular gift due to the drop ask, depending on the telephone marketing strategy.

2. Two step

With this method, a charity promotes a keyword and short code again. But this time, when the donor texts in, they make a single donation. The bounceback text message from the charity confirms that the donor has been charged £5 and promotes a regular gift. 

This text message is followed by a second bounceback message that contains instructions on how to set up regular giving.

In our experience, the conversion rate for those who make a single donation and then an RGPSMS donation following the second step is around 10 per cent, making it a valuable tool in any regular giving toolbox.

3. Straight to

This method is the most frictionless for individual donations. Here, if a public member, after seeing a charity's advert, texts CAT to 70007 to make a £3 a month donation, they will receive a message from the charity asking the individual to reply 'YES' to confirm their decision. 

Once this commitment is made, the charity will text them explaining how to stop the recurring payment or, should they wish to, at any point in the future, how to skip a payment. 

Another text—the first text that charges the donor—follows. Straight to campaigns managed by Cymba typically see 70 – 80 per cent of people who text convert to making RGPSMS donations.

4. SMS broadcast

SMS broadcasts are similar to sending appeals by mailshot or email, except you're using SMS instead. 

With this approach, a charity simply needs a list of mobile numbers of potential donors and supporters who haven't opted out of being approached. The prospect is sent an RGPSMS appeal, which uses the short code the donor will be giving on, and asked to reply with the appropriate keyword. Once again, the donor is asked to confirm that they want to sign up for a regular giving donation by replying 'YES'. At this point, the process follows that of a straight to campaign.

SMS broadcasts are generally a much cheaper option, as charities typically already have mobile numbers. However, because these mobile numbers probably come from previous campaigns, historical costs should be considered when budgeting. Our experience shows that 20 per cent of people approached upgraded their RGPSMS donation from £3 to £5 per month. This tool can also be used to promote the Cymba Gift Aid form to donors.

We've helped many charities establish, maintain and grow their regular giving programmes. 

To get more tips on recruiting regular donors, join our webinar on April 25 at 11:30 AM, presented by our Account Manager, Les Beech and our Head of Client Services, Steve Mathison.