Texting: The New Way to Give

It's actually been around for years, but texting a donation to a charity is just beginning to make an impact, particularly with natural disaster relief. You may have texted a donation to a national organization to help the victims of hurricanes in the United States, earthquakes in Haiti or even tsunamis in Japan.  However, three local nonprofits have added texting to their fundraising tool belt in the last few months.

Make-a-Wish Foundation of Michigan, Kids' Food Basket and West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology have all included text-to-give campaigns as a way to make a donation to their organizations.  And, all three organizations have rolled out their campaigns in conjunction with large-scale events.

"It was a great way to reach a large group of people in a non-traditional way," explains Christine Lentine, Fund Development and Community Outreach Coordinator at Kids' Food Basket. 

It's also an innovative way to fundraise in an environment where technology seems to be moving faster than the speed of light and is an additional source of revenue when donations are on a downward slope in a sluggish economy.

Results have varied with texting donations as its very presence in West Michigan is at an infancy level.  It's very labor intensive behind the scenes and pricing is still at a premium for the ability to receive donations in such a way. However, these pioneering organizations have laid a foundation from which other charities can build upon.

Although local text-to-give campaigns have not had nearly the same results as disaster relief on a national level, we should applaud these community charities for taking risks, creating opportunities and remaining on the cutting edge of the nonprofit sector. Keep your eye on these organizations as they are in the forefront of fundraising.

To be a do-gooder:
•    Contribute to Make-a-Wish Foundation of Michigan through their website
•    Make a donation to Kids' Food Basket online here
•    Donate to West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology on the web

Source: Christine Lentine, Kids' Food Basket
Writer: Jennifer Wilson, Do Good Editor