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

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
Copyright © 2015. Mobile Commons, Inc. All rights reserved. | www.mobilecommons.com | info@mobilecommons.com

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

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.

Only
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

99%

6.64%

4.70%

14.06%

32%
14%

1.73%

0.82%

8.22%

16%

Beneﬁts of Text Messaging
10
•  Recruit more people
•  Drive more action
More Donations
More Volunteers
More On-the-
Ground Action
More Advocacy
Phone calls

12
Text sampleDA to 97779 to see sample texts!
Deﬁne American

13
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

14
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
15
15
Ladder of Engagement

16
●  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

17
Hosting Results

18
Viewing Results

19
Border Crisis

20
McAllen, Texas

21
July 15, 2014

22
Results from JAV Border Crisis

23
Mobile Engagement + Targeting

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

27
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.

28
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
29
29
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. "
"
"
"
"
"

30
30
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

32

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