Give a fundraiser tools for engaging donors, stand back, and watch the magic happen.  While the Conversational Texting model is well beyond the ‘sandbox’ stage, we continue to see our public media colleagues test new ways to deploy this channel.   

You’re already familiar with text bots that remind you of your dentist appointment or urge you to take action on a policy or political issue. Conversational Texting differs in that there are real human beings behind each interaction.   

While the ‘personal touch’ is part of the trust-building exercise around inbound campaigns such as pledge drives, our colleagues are building outbound campaigns that support various efforts such as membership renewals and events.   

Russ Hitzemann, VP & Chief Individual Giving Officer at Nine PBS, feels texting is at the stage online giving was when it, too, was a novel approach. Last fall, Nine PBS started outbound texting for the first effort in renewals. “The conversion rate is good, about 1%...I think it’ll eventually become what online giving is today”, Russ said.  “I had no preconceived notions that this would be a windfall, but when the time comes (that people use texting as a giving channel), we need to be ready for it.”   

PBS Reno began outbound renewal messages in September 2020.  “I really appreciate getting text reminders for my dry cleaning, my doctor’s appt or my haircut appt” notes Peter Stanton, VP of Development, “and I thought that the annual renewal cycle would fit that scheme pretty well in our donors’ minds.” Peter adds, “We’ve seen a strong ROI from that. We’ve had zero people contact the station to complain about it.  Anytime you use a new technology to communicate with donors, the supposition is that somebody’s going to think it’s going too far.  We’ve had thousands of texts go out, hundreds of conversions, and only a handful of opt-outs.” 

Yuri Stern, Director of Member Engagement & Development at GBH, used outbound texting for their virtual Ask the Expert series.  “We’re asking them specifically for mobile numbers when they register for a free or low-priced event.  It’s a required field.”  GBH has offered three events on the topic of Birding. “We texted them 10 minutes before the event to let them know the event was about to begin” so attendees were inured to being contacted by the station.  For free events, there’s email & text follow up, which includes a solicitation.  “We’re trying to do it within fifteen minutes of the end of the event”, said Yuri.  By the third installment of the Birding series, GBH had 2145 attendees and received 125 donations, 39 of which were monthly Sustainers.   

While inbound continues to be the first toe in the water, fundraisers who now have the tools are diving into testing and refinement of outbound texting in creative ways.  We welcome more examples to share with CDP partner stations!