Hi all!
I'm wondering if anyone has used a text-to-give platform and has one they would recommend? Thank you so much!
Hi Maryke,
We used to use one called Mobile Cause. I wasn't really involved in implementing it, but one con was it didn't connect directly with Tessitura. We currently use donate2 which does automatically enter the gifts to Tess. It's not really a text-to-give but it's very mobile friendly and it also has QR generation built in.
Do you have any specific requirements or situations you're trying to solve for?
I don't have any ringing endorsements, but can share what we've dabbled with in the past...we also use Donate2, and it does have a text-to-give feature but only integrates with a Twilio phone number. We have a Twilio account already that we use to let patrons share e-tickets via SMS on our website, so it made sense to hook them together - I doubt we would have looked into it if we didn't already have Twilio though. (As a sidebar, a Twilio number is really cost-effective for SMS since the texts only cost a penny or two apiece, but the flip side is that the tech setup is really complicated, not very plug-and-play). The other downside is that our Twilio number is a standard 206 area code number with 10 digits, so it's not very streamlined for a donor to send a message to - but the cost of paying for a 5-digit shortcode is ridiculously high.
The one other tool we used during COVID closures was Qgiv, which is what we used to run a virtual gala in 2021. That had a really nice text-to-give feature including a 5-digit shortcode to send to, but I don't think they sell it as a standalone tool, it's part of their much bigger virtual event suite. Also not integrated with Tessitura to my knowledge.
I have to say, being on the receiving end of those SMS tickets was really slick (I went to a show with Joanna). Definitely on my wish list for SCT and something I'll probably bark up your tree about in a few years.
Thanks Kanani! We're looking for something that is super fast and easy for donors so they don't have to bother creating an account of filling in a bunch of into in order to give a quick donation. So that's where text-to-give would be ideal.
Thank you Evan for the info!! I'll be sure to pass this along to our team so they can take it into consideration.
Donate2 will do that for you. Here's an example form. https://donate2.app/RwbDujGo ahead and give us a dollar if you want to try it out.You can make them more simple (lots of flexibility) if you want to streamline the choices (remove recurring gifts for example).