Nonprofit Fundraising: The Case for Spontaneous Giving

Mobile phones are generally used to fill one of three needs: staving off boredom, gathering real-time information, or making a snap decision. When it comes to nonprofit fundraising, your organization needs to capitalize on the third idea. Spontaneous giving options like donation apps can make mobile users’ snap decisions work for your benefit.

On-the-Spot Nonprofit Fundraising

At fundraising events, you want donors to decide right then and there to make a donation to your cause. After all, it’s best to win them over while you still have their attention. If you wait to send home a pledge card, many well-intentioned attendees will get distracted and forget to give.

Mobile giving makes immediate, spontaneous giving possible. In a survey of donors who used mobile text-to-give methods in the aftermath of the 2010 Haitian earthquake, Pew Research Center found that:

50% donated immediately upon learning about the campaign

23% donated on the same day they heard about it

Imagine the impact this could have on your nonprofit fundraising efforts. Any potential donor in the audience could pull out their phone and give as soon as they felt moved to do so. No waiting for funds to arrive, and no risk of forgetfulness getting in the way.

Impulse Givers Take Less Convincing

Encouraging spontaneous gifts doesn’t give donors time to research your cause beforehand. You are probably wondering if that lack of research translates to less donations. Fortunately, that is not the case.

Let’s return to the Haiti earthquake example for a moment. Of the campaign’s text-to-give donors, an overwhelming 70% made spur-of-the-moment decisions that didn’t involve any research. According to the donors themselves, this stands in sharp contrast to their online behavior. Half said that they thoroughly research a cause before making online donations.

What is the lesson to be learned here? If you offer a quick and easy mobile giving method, it won’t take very much effort to convince donors to use it.

More Likely To Donate Again

Mobile donors are also extremely likely to use mobile giving options to donate to future nonprofit fundraising efforts. About a third of those who gave to the Haiti campaign made more than one donation to the cause, and over half used mobile methods to donate to other disaster relief efforts.

By offering modern options like mobile giving apps, you can give donors the ability to contribute while they still feel emotionally invested in your cause. If you are looking for a way to dramatically increase your nonprofit fundraising potential, spontaneous mobile giving is the answer.