NY Times says text donations system is flawed

One of the presentations at last month’s Association of Advancement Services Professionals conference dealt with mobile giving. I’m still skeptical about its suitability for most nonprofits, and the NY Times said the same yesterday.

If you have an urgent call to action, a way of reaching a mass audience, and don’t mind not being able to identify, steward, or resolicit most of the donors who give via text, mobile giving can definitely be effective. But those are big “ifs” and most nonprofits don’t meet those criteria.

I do expect this to change over time. There will be more ways to give via cell, like PayPal for Mobile and XIPWIRE. That will bring down the startup and monthly costs and allow you to identify your mobile donors. But we’re not there yet.

If you want to learn more, Mobile Active published a great overview of the mobile giving landscape last year called Texting for Charitable Dollars: The Definitive Guide