The use of bulk text messaging by non-profits is a comparatively new concept and because of this, many non-profit organisations find themselves unsure about how to get the most from their campaign.

If you’re representing a non-profit and you’re new to the game, follow these basic guidelines to get the most from your next promotion.

Your first priority should be to build yourself a comprehensive mobile list. There are legal issues around buying and selling mobile numbers in countries, so tread carefully in the early stages and if you have the opportunity to build your mobile list ‘by hand’, by all means do it. It’s by far the highest quality list you can have.

Once you successfully build a big-enough mobile number list, do the following to turn bulk mobile messaging into an effective marketing weapon for your nonprofit.

Add SMS subscription buttons on your website

Add an SMS subscription button on your website, blog, social media page, e-newsletter etc. to enable customers to subscribe to your text messaging campaigns. Also, provide sufficient details on your website with regard to how your text messaging services work, how to subscribe to them and how frequently text messages will be sent. By providing this information, you’ll be one step closer to winning the trust of your target audience. Also, place a widget on your website’s home page which will allow visitors subscribe to your bulk mobile messaging by just entering their mobile phone numbers.

Send relevant and informative text messages

Convincing mobile users to sign up to your bulk SMS is the easy part. To retain their interest in the long run, you must work harder. To ensure this, you must send relevant and informative text messages to your subscribers so they value your efforts. Your SMS services should be timely and should feature a sense of urgency — in addition, you should also try and include a call-to-action whenever possible.

Always ensure that your bulk text messages feature a link to your website, especially a landing page where your subscribers can donate (or some other action you’d like them to take). In addition you might like to, every couple of weeks or so, send a text message advertising your pages on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.