2. Snowball (best text donation platform)

There's a profusion of text-to-give players out there, from qGiv to Accelevents, and after a while, they all run together. But Snowball fundraising differentiates itself with its nonprofit-first mobile giving platform that makes accepting donations a snap.

Key features:

• Choose from unlimited text keywords for your potential donor base
• Fundraising thermometer feature provides a clear visual of how much you've raised
• Easily receive one-time or recurring donation options
• Bilingual support online and by phone

Why we love it:

Snowball fundraising is all about convenience, so for small nonprofits looking for a simple giving experience, they make a great product. There's no clicking around and no extra forms, with the big differentiator being that first-time donors can give through a mobile-friendly donation page without re-entering their credit card information.

Why we prefer Funraise:

While Snowball fundraising offers a lot of convenience and value when it comes to donating via text message, its CRM isn't robust enough for nonprofits looking to scale and grow, and it's no single-solution software. Snowball fundraising lacks standout fundraising features that can help you make the most of your fundraising efforts and is slow to implement innovative features. Plus, if you want the unlimited text-to-give feature, you'll need to go premium or higher.

3. Rally Corp (best mobile fundraising method)

Rally Corp is all about that text, so you can bet they do it well. Rally's goal is to help non-profit organizations use text messaging to achieve their goals through simple tools that keep you in constant contact with your supporters' cell phones.

Key features:

• Simple sign-up forms to embed on your website
• Mobile giving campaign templates and widgets to save time
• Workflows like text-to-donate, text-to-RSVP, and ringless voicemail
• Numerous integrations to supplement text giving

Why we love it:

Rally Corp makes each text-to-give campaign easy, with clear guidance and a streamlined platform. Because it focuses only on texting, it's simple to learn, and they offer solid customer service from a small, knowledgeable team.

Why we prefer Funraise:

Rally Corp is great for a text-to-give fundraising campaign, but while text giving is highly effective, it's not a stand-alone strategy. With Funraise, you get a single-solution fundraising software that provides everything Rally Corp does, along with tools to help you succeed on every front, so you can use text-to-give alongside peer-to-peer fundraising, crowdfunding, automations, gorgeous campaign sites, and even AI appeals.

4. Tithe.ly (number one text-to-give services for churches)

Tithe.ly is the top text-to-give online fundraising platform for churches and religious organizations. While it includes many of the standard features you know and love from other fundraising platforms, Tithe.ly also includes tools to manage the church itself and engage specific audiences. When it comes to text giving, your religious organization can put out a donation appeal for your next text-to-give fundraising campaign or send over a Bible verse or two.

Key features:

• Create personalized and automated texts from your non-profit organizations
• Communicate with congregation members, volunteers, staff, and visitors with segmented lists
• Two-way mobile communication options for donors with unlimited keywords

Why we love it:

Having a platform that gets you is always a great feeling, and Tithe.ly knows its clients. Their mobile giving campaigns and email tools are available as a separate package and focus solely on church needs. The feature integrates with the rest of their church online giving tools to help you raise money for your congregation.

Why we prefer Funraise:

Funraise offers everything a church could need—and also everything a non-church could need, making our software the inclusive choice. Furthermore, we find that learning from different people and sectors is the best way to stay on top of the latest solutions. Plus, as Tithe.ly has acquired different companies, it increasingly requires you to switch between different platforms for different product needs, like Elvanto (church management) and Breeze (banking), which can be a slow and frustrating process. With Funraise, it's all right there.

5. Handbid (best mobile bidding donate by text services)

When mobile bidding is your game, Handbid is the primary name. Handbid's text-to-give capabilities focus on online fundraising events, specifically auctions. Their powerful auction software, which includes a mobile bidding app, combines with text-to-donate tools to have mobile donors on their phones all night long.

Key features:

• Run successful online auctions with virtual auction software
• Pair with their bidding app to increase revenue when donors are already on their phones through push notifications and appeals
• Receive one free keyword for your donors to text for every event

Why we love it:

Handbid simplifies the process of integrating mobile giving campaigns with text-to-give fundraising events for charitable organizations. Rather than raising paddles and yelling numbers, donors simply text using their mobile phones to bid, donate, and stay on top of any event updates. Text-to-give makes Handbid's auction software a double threat, maximizing your event's fundraising potential (and potential donor base.)

Why we prefer Funraise:

In addition to offering standout fundraising features beyond your wildest dreams, Funraise lets you sell tickets, manage check-in, collect donations, and more, making for super smooth in-person and virtual events. So, you're getting all those event-forward features + top text-to-give tools ++ a ton of other features, with new ones constantly being added. That's why we prefer Funraise 🙂

6. OneCause (best text-to-give options for events)

As we've established, text giving and events are a match made in heaven, and OneCause makes a great nonprofit event software. Their text-to-give features allow you to collect text-to-give donations leading up to your event or at any time of the year.

Key features:

• Set up a custom mobile giving campaign site
• Include custom giving amounts and goals
• Get real-time fundraiser updates with interactive scoreboards, fundraising thermometer, and donor names

Why we love it:

Whether your event is in-person, virtual, or hybrid, OneCause has the tools to get event attendees in the (digital) door so you can reach your fundraising goals. Because events can so easily go awry, it's focused on balancing flexibility with functionality, including with its text-to-give features.

Why we prefer Funraise:

While OneCause has events down, setup can be tricky, and the platform can be a bit clunky. Additionally, they have a lot of different products that don't always work smoothly together. At Funraise, it's all for one and one for all, all the time, whether it's your next event or a mobile giving campaign.

7. GiveWP (favorite text-to-give software for WordPress sites)

GiveWP's our second-favorite WordPress donation software plug-in (besides Funraise's, but of course!), and its text-to-give add-on allows every one from potential donors to major donors to give straight from their phones. If you have WordPress website, this is an easy integration with basic text-to-give functionality, so potential donors can text a keyword to make a donation.

Key features:

• Text donations to GiveWP forms using Stripe donations
• Accept payments through numerous platforms
• Create and customize SMS text donation forms

Why we love it:

You'll need a WordPress site to take advantage of GiveWP, but assuming you have one, choosing this plug-in as your text-to-give provider gives your charitable organization the ability to solicit text-to-give donations, connect them to your giving forms, and build your strategy on those insights. There aren't a lot of bells and whistles, but it's easy to set up and easy to use.

Why we prefer Funraise:

Sometimes, you want a few bells and whistles, and Funraise has ‘em … and trust us, once you use them you won't believe you went this long without them for so long. Plus, with GiveWP, you have to install the text-to-give add-on individually, and that's true for every add-on. If you're hoping to build out a more robust solution, that's a lot of time spent adding-on.

You've got this! (Or, you're about to get it. Funraise's Text Engagement, that is.)

Are there any text to donate free services?

As you can see, there are many T2G platforms, but are there any free text-to-give services out there? The answer, technically, is yes. But you won't get a lot of bang for your buck, and you'll be subject to a whole lot of hidden fees. There are per transaction fees, text limits, set-up fees, overage costs, and more.

Again, yes; there are virtual fundraising solutions with zero base cost and a text fundraising product. More likely, though, you'll find a free donation platform that works for you and then discover that the connected text-to-give campaigns tool is an additional cost. And think about it... when it comes to your secure fundraising, or when you're trying to maximize your average text donation size, a maze-like donor database or impossibly complex virtual fundraising software is less than useless.

So, when it comes to text to donate for free, we don't feel comfortable pointing at any one "free" service—stick with one or more of the solutions above. In the long term, your nonprofit, and its budget, will thank you.

Text to give pricing: the top text to donate platforms compared

You've probably noticed by now that we didn't include any pricing in our evaluations of the options above—and for good reason. In the wild world of text to give pricing, things are always changing. There are new regulations, new rules, and new fees on the daily, making it difficult to say with any certainty what's a deal, a steal, or a rip-off. Furthermore, as we mentioned above, there are all sorts of hidden fees that make it hard to know what your final bill will be.

Your best bet is to decide which features are essential for your fundraising strategy and future growth—and your potential donor base, and start by eliminating online fundraising platforms that don't offer those. We'd then suggest looking at roadmaps and feature release schedules and releasing (get it?!) from your list platforms that aren't actively keeping their product up to date with privacy policies, emerging technologies, and related legislation. Finally, we'd narrow the list to text-to-give online fundraising platforms that integrate with other tools and programs that are critical to your nonprofit's growth.

You might just be left with Funraise. If there are other online fundraising platforms still on your list, put 'em on ice while you talk to us, and then loop 'em back in if (and it's a big IF) Funraise doesn't work out.

Get transparent pricing on all Funraise's features

Which text donation services are best for me? Our conclusion

If you're ready to utilize text-to-give campaigns but are still having trouble making a final decision, we can help. Try Funraise! (Well, you asked!) But seriously, we've worked hard to ensure our text engagement features are flawless, keeping in mind industry best practices, the latest innovations, and feedback from nonprofits just like you. Additionally, we're always incorporating new features to make our product as useful as possible for our nonprofit users, which allows charitable organizations to grow alongside us. We'd love to ride this texting train into the sunset with you in the months and years ahead. All aboard!

FAQs

What is the best text to give platform?

It depends on your individual needs as an non-profit organization, including your budget, potential donor database, and industry. Do your research and find a comprehensive platform that meets your needs ... but you can't go wrong with Funraise! The most innovative text-to-give online fundraising platform, plus an awesome customer support team, plus an integrated donor CRM. 

In fact, let us remind you that with Funraise, you can track donations in real time, send outbound texts and automate responses, and provide an amazing donor experience. Offer all the payment methods that your donors dream of, show mobile fundraising progress with a campaign thermometer, and thank donors when your fundraising efforts lead to fundraising success.

Is text-to-give effective?

SMS open rates hover around 95% compared to 18% for email. So, yes, given how much time we all spend on our phones these days, T2G is highly effective for engaging and converting potential donors. Funraise's comprehensive platform encourages the greatest average donation size, includes options for donors to cover payment processing fees, and can even transition one-time donors to monthly donors.

A few more stats, just in case you're not sold yet: 50%. That's Funraise's mobile donation form conversion rate. 73%: That's Funraise's online average donation growth. 3x: That's how much faster Funraise customers' online fundraising revenue grows in comparison to industry benchmarks. $8M: That's the amount of processing fees Funraise has helped nonprofits cover. And 100%: That's how sure we are that text-to-give is a part of healthy nonprofit fundraising efforts.

How do you set up text donations?

It starts by finding a text-to-give platform. (Ahem, Funraise!) They'll walk you through setup and help you create a unique phone number and custom codes. Then, it's up to you to promote your new giving program and pursue fundraising success through a well-thought-out mobile giving campaign.

What types of campaigns work with text-to-donate?

Mobile giving campaigns work with lots of different types of fundraising strategies! Basically, anything you can think of will be supplemented by text communications. With your event, you can send links for donors to purchase to fundraising event tickets. Text links and info about auction items. Complement peer campaigns by keeping fundraisers updated through texting.

Can you automate texts to donors?

Sure! The most common case is automatic responses to inbound messaging. But some online fundraising tools will offer you engagement tools that could trigger outbound text messages based on donor activity. At the least, set triggers in your current online fundraising platforms to let you know when outbound messaging is warranted.

How can AI help with text-to-give?

Our #1 rule is: Make sure your donor database knows that there's a real person behind your text appeal for donations. AI enhances text-to-give campaigns by personalizing messages, optimizing timing, and predicting donor behavior. It can automate responses, segment donors, and analyze campaign performance in real-time. 

What kind of payment processors work with text-to-give?

At its best, text-to-give simply expands the payment options that your donors can use to give to your nonprofit. All the usual types of payment options will be at their fingertips through your outbound text messaging (ok maybe not old-fashioned payment methods like cash or check or direct bank payments): debit cards, credit cards, digital wallets, and more. 

What are the best keywords to use in text-to-donate campaigns?

The best campaign keywords are simple keywords. If your mission saves puppies, choose the simple keyword "PUPPY". When segmenting donors, include additional keywords; for example, "SAVEDOGS" (although that's not quite the simple keyword we'd suggest.) Many platforms will allow unlimited keywords, which means you can use simple keywords as campaign keywords. Once more: "campaign keyword".

What makes a text-to-give campaign successful?

A successful text-to-give campaign is more than just more fundraising revenue. It can also increase average donation size, jumpstart fundraising progress, increase the number of email addresses in your email list, secure fundraising support, inspire donor engagement, reduce fees for donations, and more. And who doesn't want fundraising progress and a higher average donation size!

How does text-to-give fundraising work?

In a nutshell, the text-to-give process involves deciding on which potential donor base will be the audience, setting up automatic responses, sending outbound text messages with instructions for donors, tracking fundraising progress, and planning the next successful mobile giving campaign!

How do you write a donation text?

Think like your donor as you write a donation text! This is the perfect opportunity to inspire donors. And don't forget that the phone carrier could deliver something slightly different than you wrote—adding or cutting off an image, shortening your link, or even sending to spam.