Patrick J Coleman is the CEO of GiveCentral. His expertise lies in stewardship, fundraising, electronic giving, and change enablement.
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What does it mean to make your nonprofit organization mobile friendly? From your organization’s website and emails to landing and donation pages, turning your nonprofit into a mobile-friendly one requires focusing on all aspects of your organization’s work. Let’s first look at the different major benefits of a mobile-friendly nonprofit:
• With mobile accounting for almost 60% of search traffic, mobile-optimized sites can work better for your nonprofit’s SEO.
• Emails may get opened more frequently on mobile devices than on a desktop. According to one study, mobile accounted for 42% of email opens in the year 2019.
• Social media is accessed mostly from mobile devices; this could mean more traffic through a mobile device.
Now that you know why exactly it's important to become mobile friendly, let’s delve into the different ways in which you can make “mobile” work even better for your nonprofit organization. This can also act as a checklist for your nonprofit’s next milestone—achieving that next big target.
1. Simply text.
Let’s start with the simplest of all tips—reach your supporters on their mobile phones through texting. In order to generate funds through texting, opt for a text-to-give method of fundraising/transaction. Engagement for fundraising campaigns through mobile devices has seen an increase in recent years.
• Use text messages to quickly yet subtly remind your busy audience about your campaign.
• I've found you are likely to get a response from your supporters through texting, especially during big fundraising seasons such as #GivingTuesday, Christmas and New Year's, among others. This is so because emails are usually flooded with fundraising appeals and ads for the same pop up everywhere on the internet.
2. Polish your website.
Your website is a representation of your organization. Therefore, when you optimize your site for mobile devices, make sure that it is accessible on all mobile devices. Pay attention to the font size, style, image sizes and formatting that you use on your website.
• Go for a mobile-responsive theme. This will be your framework for your website’s layout, structure and design.
• The simpler the design and navigation on your website, the more convenient it will be for your visitors.
• Prioritize a fast loading speed, and make sure that you streamline your giving page. Optimize the images that you are using.
• Totally eliminate all sorts of pop-up ads.
3. Send mobile-friendly emails.
What is that one thing you wish to do in order to get your supporters to give? Engage! In my experience, nonprofits can achieve higher open and click-through rates by going for a mobile-optimized email. When your emails are easily readable on a mobile device, you offer convenience to your supporters. Now there are multiple ways in which you can make your emails easy to read:
• Do not forget to insert your call-to-action button. This will make it easier for your readers to understand what their next step of action should be and how.
• Use subject lines that speak a sense of urgency such as “priority,” “few hours left” and “must RSVP.” Make your subject lines short and sweet.
• Use powerful images, infographics and bullet points to make your emails look interesting. Tell your story and make your appeal with smart formatting options.
• Avoid the need to zoom in on any text or image. Making use of a mobile responsive email template that fits any mobile device is a smart idea.
4. Blend in on social media.
For any fundraising campaign to get a good response, you need to meet your supporters where they are. All nonprofit organizations have different kinds of audiences, and each set of supporters might have a preference for the social media platform that they use. The point here is to blend in on social media and generate mobile giving through the process. Strengthen your social media presence on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and identify the platform(s) that you wish to focus on. Once that is done, come up with your strategy. Here are a few tips:
• Work with nonprofit social media influencers who are passionate about your cause as much as you are. Reach out to these individuals for a collaboration.
• Plan your posts, and be regular with all the posts that you publish.
• Tap into features and methods such as short videos, reels, retweets, stories, quizzes, polls, etc.
In all of these, remember to include information on how your supporters can donate, and include working links.
Conclusion
Going mobile is the modern way to keep up with the world. Post about your planning and strategies, and perform quality checks before executing. Check all your visuals, proofread your content and review your display. A mobile-friendly nonprofit is the bridge to initiating and creating more engagement, thus gaining more support for your mission.
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