Soapbox Engage Blog

It’s the digital age, and practically everyone has a smartphone now. Mobile giving is definitely here to stay. If you want to remain competitive and relevant, it’s time to expand your fundraising strategies to include a wide range of mobile giving tactics, from peer-to-peer fundraising to mobile email and everything in between.

Have no fear! We’re here to help you understand why mobile giving is so important and explore some of the most popular mobile giving strategies and tools!

Table of Contents

• Audience for mobile giving
• Email fundraising
• Mobile-friendly donation pages
• P2P fundraising as mobile giving
• Mobile-friendly forms for volunteer sign-ups, petitions, etc
• Mobile-friendly events apps boost online engagement

Mobile Giving Basics

The name “mobile giving” is a little misleading. It’s not just about getting more donations via mobile devices--though that’s certainly a big part of it. The ultimate goal is to make your nonprofit as accessible as possible across all technology platforms, including mobile devices.

Mobile giving can include any fundraising strategy that allows supporters to donate on any mobile device, but it usually targets smartphones and tablets. Sometimes it’s called mobile fundraising for nonprofits.

Mobile giving is also popular because it makes your organization more accessible, helps you connect with your supporters, and makes donating easier, faster, and more comfortable for people in almost any context.

Mobile giving appeals to a broad audience

It’s not just the “young guns” using mobile devices these days! Recent studies revealed that 53% of people age 65 and older use a smartphone. The technology gap between generations has all but disappeared, meaning that mobile giving is critical to all your fundraising strategies.

Use a free tool like Google Analytics to gather details about your audience, like how they found your site, where they live, and loads of other valuable information. You can also see which pages get the most visits via mobile devices so you can optimize those pages; though, ideally, your entire website should be mobile-friendly.

Leveraging Mobile Giving for Your Nonprofit

There are quite a few types of mobile giving tools and strategies to boost your fundraising campaigns. Here are some top contenders and tools we recommend!

Email fundraising

Thanks to smartphones, people are checking email constantly these days. A whopping 50% of people surveyed say they check email even in bed, and 42% said they read emails while in the bathroom! We won’t comment on that last tidbit, but most people check email throughout the day on their phones.

Mobile giving allows people to make donations with a tool they’re already using constantly. It also helps them take immediate action, which reduces the likelihood they’ll change their mind or (more likely) forget.

Make sure all your emails have “click to donate” buttons at crucial spots. Strategically place them in the margin at the top of your email template, at the bottom, and even right underneath an appeal when it’s appropriate.

Mobile-friendly donation pages

While we’re on the subject of donate buttons, your donation page should be mobile-friendly. Because supporters are likely viewing your donation page on their phone or tablet, your page needs to be easy to read, visually appealing, and function well on all devices.

Small print, poorly sized images, or difficult navigation will deter people from completing the donation process. Mobile-responsive donation pages, like the Soapbox Engage Donations app, adjust the layout and sizing on the page to make it easy for supporters to navigate the page on any device.

Another way to make your donation page more mobile-friendly is to reduce the number of required fields and add multiple pre-set giving options. With the Donations app, everything is fully customizable, and you can make sure the donation page design is consistent with your brand, too.

Peer-to-peer fundraising is a form of mobile giving

Peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising harnesses the power of your best supporters by turning them into fundraisers on your behalf! While early peer-to-peer fundraising involved going door-to-door, collecting spare change, modern P2P campaigns usually happen primarily online.

It’s really quite simple! Gather your most passional, loyal, vocal, or enthusiastic supporters and supply them with a personalized fundraising page, social media templates, and other tools and training to do some mobile fundraising on your behalf. Most P2P fundraising relies heavily on social media networking and advertising.

Some nonprofits boost their peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns with virtual fundraising events like Facebook Live gatherings or other creative strategies to gather a virtual audience and spread the word about your mobile fundraiser.

Great news! With the Soapbox Engage Donations app, you can create an unlimited number of custom donation pages, making peer-to-peer fundraising a breeze! And it integrates easily with a wide range of online payment processing options, making it easy for your donors to give on their mobile devices.

Use mobile-friendly forms for volunteer sign-ups, petitions, and other online actions

In addition to raising more money with mobile giving, you can boost your volunteer sign-ups, get more signatures for your next petition, and even gather more contact information at your next event!

Make sure your volunteer and interest sign-up forms are mobile-friendly so you can capture those eager volunteers and potential donors right at the beginning. Use the Soapbox Engage Forms app to create custom, branded, mobile-friendly forms that allow you to gather all the information you need.

Many nonprofits also rely on petitions and pledges as part of their social media and online strategies. Use the mobile-friendly Petitions app to gather more pledges from your followers because your form will be easy to fill out on any device. You’ll be able to mobilize your supporters and expand your mailing list at the same time!

Mobile-friendly events apps boost online engagement

Many nonprofits host ticketed fundraising events. Make sure these events--whether virtual or in-person, are mobile-friendly! These days, people want to register for events and purchase tickets online with just a few clicks on their smartphone (probably while they’re waiting for that second pot of coffee to brew… or something).

The Events app empowers you to host unlimited events with more ticketing options than you’ll know what to do with! You can easily customize everything from the ticket sales start and end dates to the email confirmation experience. Plus, you’ll be able to link your mobile-friendly event registration page to all your online advertising so people can click through right away and claim their spot!

Everyone wins! Your supporters will appreciate being able to sign up for events on their smartphones. Your team will appreciate how easy it is to keep up with registration.

Like we said before, mobile giving isn’t just about getting more donations. It’s about making your organization as accessible as possible to improve your overall engagement with current and potential supporters.

Overall, the goal is to make it as easy as possible for people to stay connected and involved even via their mobile devices. With these strategies and tools, you’ll be able to quickly adapt and keep up with the ever-changing mobile demands of the 21st century.

Now that you’ve got the hang of mobile giving, here are three more resources to help you boost your fundraising strategies.

• The Top 3 Ways to Provide An Effective Donation Form: Virtual fundraising is an integral part of nonprofit fundraising. No matter how your organization has been handling the shift to virtual giving, one thing is true. If you want to take advantage of online donations, you must have a simple and effective donation form. This blog offers three ways to create the most effective online donation form for your nonprofit.
• Boost Volunteer Recruitment and Retention for Your Nonprofit: Many nonprofits lean heavily on volunteers for everyday tasks and carry out their mission. But how do you find and keep these stellar volunteers? There are loads of great recruitment strategies and methods, and some might be more appropriate for your organization than others. This blog offers some tips and resources to help fill your directory with high-quality volunteers.
• Corporate Giving Basics for Every Nonprofit: Corporate giving is on the rise, motivated by a mix of altruism and a desire to attract employees that value working for socially responsible companies. If corporate giving is a new fundraising strategy for you (or you’d like to hone your existing strategy), we’ve gathered some valuable wisdom and insight about how to approach corporate giving!