Texting Compliance and Fundraising: Assessing the Changing Landscape

It’s no secret that texting is a widely popular communication channel. The CITA, one of the largest trade organizations representing the U.S. wireless industry, reports that 97% of Americans have a cell phone and are sending trillions of texts each year with 98% of texts opened by the recipient.

Fundraising teams have embraced texting as a communication channel in the last five years. In our recent on-demand webinar Texting Compliance: Understanding the Landscape, over 50% of attendees reported having a texting program. Here at RNL, we’ve sent over 5 million text messages through our standard and advanced texting platforms in the last 12 months on behalf of our clients. We’ve recommended a solid strategy of solicitation amplification, pledge fulfillment, stewardship, and donor engagement to many of our existing clients to create meaningful connections with current and future donors. And it works—over 60% of responses come within 30 minutes after the initial text was received.

The changing landscape of texting compliance

Mobile providers have always been concerned with both content and consent, asking the very basic questions: “Is this message wanted?” and “Is this message taking advantage of our customers?” Now that businesses, nonprofits, and organizations are texting individuals on a regular basis, there is greater awareness of unwanted and unsolicited messages being sent to consumers. In March of 2023, the Federal Communications Commission adopted its first rules around spam texting requiring mobile providers to block highly likely spam texts.

In fundraising, we’ve discussed the content of what we send since texting has become popular. Following best practices like introducing our organization at the beginning of the text and sending vanity URLs with any call to action has become the standard operating practice in the industry. When it comes to consent, however, we’ve leaned on the notion that our pre-existing relationship is a strong enough case of support to show consent to receive texts. Whether that relationship is with a current or past donor, alumni or parents of students attending your organization, or previous healthcare patients, the existence of a relationship alone was thought to be enough to prove consent.

This is where we are seeing the biggest shift in the industry at RNL. Just because someone has a connection to your institution does not mean they have consented to receiving texts. And now that mobile carriers are being held to a higher standard around spam texting, they are looking for documentation showing proof of consent from organizations like ours.

Demonstrating consent to text

So what happens next? We know we need to begin collecting consent to text from our constituents, but getting started can feel overwhelming.

Here are four recommendations to help you move forward:

1. Decide what data you want to capture AND how you want to store said information. At RNL, we recommend our clients capture specific information, including the phone number approved for texting and a timestamp showing when consent was given, among others.
2. Create a webpage explaining your SMS policies. During our Texting Compliance Webinar, only 7% of participants reported having a texting policy – and of those who did have a policy, only half of the respondents felt their policy met best practices.
3. Diversify the way you capture consent. Update your online forms and event registrations and utilize your digital engagement centers to have conversations about consent with your constituents.
4. Create a double opt-in procedure when securing consent. Once the individual agrees to receive texts from you, create a system that generates an automatic text confirming their opt-in, what they can expect, and how to opt-out in the future.

As a reminder, none of this should be done in a vacuum. We highly recommend reaching out to your campus partners, including your in-house legal counsel, to determine what should be included in your texting efforts. The information given in this article is meant to be a starting point for your conversations.

Ready to learn more about texting compliance and fundraising?

Start by watching our free Texting Compliance Webinar, which goes into more depth about the different levels of texting consent, data you might want to collect, elements to include in a text policy, and much more.

After watching that and you want some one-on-one attention for your program, whether that’s getting started or enhancing your existing efforts, you can request a complimentary consultation with our fundraising experts. We’ll make sure you are sending the right message to the right donor at the right time.