KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nonprofit leaders, mobile fundraising and social media experts weighed in on the future of mobile donations in 2015. Here are some of their predictions, experiences and successes from 2014. A detailed recap of predictions are also available by emailing info@jenningssocialmedia.com.
Two nonprofit leaders recapped their experiences, launching their first ever Giving Tuesday program. RAZ Mobile and Jennings Social Media Marketing worked with Natalie’s A.R.T. Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City to set up mobile giving platforms and social media marketing in advance of Giving Tuesday.
Steve Fleischaker, executive director for Natalie’s A.R.T. Foundation, said, “I can’t emphasize enough the value of knowledge we’ve gained from conducting our first mobile fundraising campaign. We are a young organization, and mobile fundraising is new to us. We learned so much about the ways we can reach donors and how we can incent them to give. The returns on a mobile fundraising page will help the foundation to grow in years to come.”
Lisa Schifman, interim marketing manager for the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, said, “We were able to create a compelling Giving Tuesday campaign that reached a large percentage of our donor base. We learned a tremendous amount about mobile fundraising and will be able to draw from it for campaigns in the future.”
Although these two charities learned a great deal and it advanced their mobile and social media tactics to reach new donors which generated donations, most nonprofits are not prepared for mobile giving today. Dale Knoop, CEO and founder of RAZ Mobile, said, “In a recent white paper from the online agency Charity Dynamics, they asked nonprofit industry leaders what the next 10 years held in store for technology and nonprofits. Not surprisingly, an overwhelming majority of those surveyed said they expect online giving to rise by 400% or more over the next ten years. And the same group said they think the smartphone will play a big role in this surge in online giving. Here at RAZ Mobile we totally agree and are seeing the amazing results our customers are achieving on our platform. In the near-term, here’s my big prediction for 2015 and online giving to nonprofits: the ongoing loss of donations (billions of $ according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy) due to high-friction online giving and too many nonprofits still using using PC sites for mobile giving will reverse their trends thereby helping many nonprofits survive and thrive in our mobile-first world for many years to come.”
Valerie Jennings, CEO of Jennings Social Media Marketing & Viral Bolt Media, said, “While most charities are slow to adopt new mobile giving technology and incorporate it into their social media content, we are seeing more and more corporations adding cause marketing efforts to support nonprofits. Even though the charities are not able to advance their marketing and online donations, cause marketing programs funded by corporations are starting to adopt it and are picking up the tab for the charities. We think this will continue to be a constant trend in 2015.”
The Chronicle of Philanthropy notes 84 percent of charities have not optimized their sites and donation platforms to be mobile-friendly. As such, donations for charities have dropped in the past few years because it’s difficult for people to use mobile devices to make donations.
About RAZ Mobile:
RAZ Mobile allows nonprofits engaged in fundraising to quickly create a branded, content-rich mobile optimized site for more effective supporter communications and increased fundraising opportunities. Every donation goes immediately to the nonprofit’s existing merchant account and repeat donations can be made in seconds with a few taps on the donor’s smartphone or tablet.
