4 Underutilized Ways Text Messaging Can Increase Peer-to-Peer Event Revenue

While the top 30 peer-to-peer fundraising programs saw 18.8% revenue growth last year, the $1.05 billion raised from those programs in 2022 still lags behind the pre-COVID amount of $1.37 billion raised in 2019.

As nonprofits look for additional ways to regain pre-COVID registrants and revenue, text messaging offers impressive reach and immediacy to engage participants. With event season in full swing, here are four underutilized ways to use text messaging to boost peer-to-peer event revenue.

1. New Participant Welcome Series

A new participant welcome series is a smart way to extend the initial enthusiasm participants have after registering for an event. 

Reaching these new participants with coaching and mission-connecting messages when they are likely highly engaged can jumpstart their fundraising and team growth. 

While a new participant welcome series has traditionally been sent via email in the days after registration, sending this series also by text messaging can help ensure it’s seen by more participants. After all, 99% of text messages are opened (opens as a PDF).

If more engaged participants receive communications to grow their team, ask for support, download the event app and/or understand the event’s mission, more money could be raised early in the participant life cycle.  

Sending the new participant welcome series via text messaging is not a replacement for sending it via email. Rather, using both communication channels can help increase the reach and engagement of important welcome messages.

2. Better Event-Day Experience

Your participants likely aren’t checking their email at the event. But, they’re likely checking texts. By prescheduling event-day text reminders like “water station locations,” “lunch now served” or “awards ceremony starting,” you can improve your participants’ event experience and deepen their connection to the event and your mission. You might even ease the burden on staff and volunteers at the event.

Texts also make a more immediate, deeper connection possible during or right after the event when participants are still riding high and most engaged. Receiving an audio or video thank-you text right after the event from your president or someone the event benefitted is much more memorable than the standard recap email. It might even lead to another donation, the fundraising email being sent to friends or, at least, more participants returning next year.

3. Increase Event Registrations

Nonprofits are still trying to recoup participants to reach their pre-COVID registration levels. Text messaging can help accelerate event registration by ensuring more past participants and constituents receive recruitment messages. And for timely messages, like “registration is open,” “early-bird rates are ending” or “online registration is closing,” quickly sending text messages can alert past participants and constituents.

In addition, click-to-share, a text messaging capabilities that is similar to a social share but entirely within text messaging, makes it easy for participants to ask friends to join them at the event. For example, a click-to-share text message provides a simple way for captains to invite others to join their team. 

4. Timely Fundraising Contests and Deadlines

Leading up to the event date, peer-to-peer fundraising events may have timely contests and deadlines to encourage participant fundraising. For example, participants who raise $100 or more in April will be entered to win an event sweatshirt. 

Deadlines can lead to action in the fundraising world.  And if a contest ends tomorrow, for example, text messaging will get that deadline quickly in front of participants. 

Relying only on email, social media and/or event apps for these timely messages can limit reach. Emails aren’t opened by 78% of recipients, Facebook posts reach just 4% of fans and event app alerts only reach those who’ve downloaded the app. 

Text messaging can not only help you reach most participants within a few minutes, but also ensure most of them see timely fundraising deadlines.

The preceding blog was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.