The summer season is notoriously quiet for the charity sector as people holiday and spend more time and money outdoors. However this summer, with more of us in the UK than normal, charities and charitable organisations across the country are more in need of donations than ever before…

Text giving and contactless has replaced cash giving and provides donors with both easy and transmission-free, secure ways to support your charity.

Across the sector, SMS donations are a growing revenue stream for charities, with over 75% of donations received on digital fundraising platform DONATE™ coming through its SMS text giving service.

Bart Leonard, Trustee at DONATE™ notes;

“SMS text giving is our most popular way of receiving donations on the DONATE™ platform, and is an easy way for charities of all sizes to fundraise.

“We would encourage as many charities as possible to register with SMS text giving to reach their full fundraising potential this summer season and capture the attention of donors.”

If your charity is looking to fundraise through SMS giving this summer, but is unsure of where to start, here are six ways SMS giving can work for your cause:

1. Capturing admission fees

As venues begin to open up to visitors, why not have your guests text donate their admission fee? It will speed up the entry process and ensure that your team aren’t having to handle any cash unnecessarily. 

Abbotsford in Scotland was home of Sir Walter Scott and is maintained by The Abbotsford Trust who ensure his legacy and home is protected for future generations. As the historic gardens have been allowed to reopen to guests, the Trust have been using DONATE™ SMS giving to process the suggested admission fee of £5. In doing so, the charity can look to maintain this new method of receiving admission fees beyond lockdown.

2. Hosting summer raffles

With text giving, you can host summer raffles to make up for any lost income where your cause would have ordinarily hosted a summer fete. 

Not only are your donors in with the chance of winning some super prizes, an SMS text raffle will help to boost overall donations by engaging your regular donors and, when promoted, keeping the whole community involved whether they are local or have moved away.

3. Kickstarting silent discos

Virtual events are still bringing in masses of viewers during lockdown, so why not try something different and host a virtual disco?

All entrants can donate £5 through SMS text giving which can also be projected on the livestream and you can push it on social media too whilst everyone hits the dancefloor. You could even theme it or have a few text donation codes for song requests.

4. Utilising sporting events

As football matches kick off both nationally and locally, could your cause set up an SMS text donation code tailored to one of the matches? 

For charities that have partnerships with local football clubs, take advantage of half-time advertising and other match opportunities to encourage donations to your charity. The My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, who raises funds to aid research into Motor Neurone Disease, supported by Scotland Rugby international Doddie Weir, have seen great success with SMS codes being shown during matches.

5. Donating cash to help foodbanks

As schools break up for the summer holidays, demand for foodbanks rises as families need extra support while they are unable to access free meals.

Could your foodbank register an SMS donation code and advertise outside the foodbank and locally to provide an easy, cash free way of supporting your efforts? Set up a few SMS text donation campaigns that show how £3 can provide a whole family with lunch and £5 can supply them all with dinner.

6. Supporting the rise in sponsored activities

Why not tap into the boom in bike sales across the UK and encourage donors and the community to get out there and cycling for a good cause?

With SMS giving, you can have individual text codes for each entrant, personalising donations and providing some friendly competition. You could even set up different donation amounts and ask for £5 per 5 miles or £10 per 10 miles ventured. It might be so successful it becomes an annual event!

About the National Funding Scheme

The National Funding Scheme (NFS), operating under the DONATE™ brand, provides a range of mobile fundraising tools to maximise fundraising campaigns.

Launched in 2013, DONATE™ (www.easydonate.org) is a platform that allows the UK public to conveniently donate via touch, SMS text or online. It is so simple to use that case studies show increases of 17x the amount raised.