Text Fundraising in New Zealand - Vodafone NZ · this service, but it would have to be advantageous...

1M A K I N G F U N D R A I S I N G E A S Y

Text Fundraising in New Zealand An overview of fundraising technology in New Zealand today

VodafonePower to you


When we set up the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation

in 2002, we were one of the first companies in New

Zealand to invest a percentage of our profit for better

social outcomes.

Twelve years, 400 charitable grants and $18m later, our

Foundation is regarded as a leader in the sector.

We deliver innovative communication solutions for our

customers, every day, and we’d like to do the same for

the charitable sector by transforming text donating.

Fundraising is a necessity for all charities – and we know

it isn’t easy, particularly in today’s cluttered environment

– so we’ve launched a new, low cost text donation

service called TXT2Give.

To help charities get the best out of TXT2Give, we’ve

created this White Paper, drawing together research

findings from Vodafone New Zealand and Vodafone

UK. It includes insights, guidance and examples of

how charities can get the best from text giving.

It highlights what has been successful overseas –

and the challenges. We’ve also explored other

fundraising technologies and how they are being

used in New Zealand.

Almost all the charities we spoke to see text giving

as a key opportunity; it’s instant and easy. TXT2Give

is a great low cost text donation service, and we hope

it will make your lives easier. Our UK experience with

JustTextGiving – which has raised $20,000,000 across

18,000 charities since launching in 2001– suggests

it will.

Introduction

Our thanks to the charities that participated in the

research. And our thanks to the charities that continue

to work so hard to make New Zealand better for us all.

We hope TXT2Give helps.

Russell Stanners

CEO Vodafone New Zealand


We surveyed over 200 New Zealand charities to

better understand current fundraising methods, the

opportunity for text donations, and other innovative

fundraising techniques already used. We also

carried out interviews with a further five charities

representative of the industry – Cure Kids, Red

Cross, Project Jonah, Youthline and Zeal – to gain

more detailed insights.

This was supported by research carried out by

the Vodafone Foundation in the UK including

comprehensive interviews with 20 leading charities

which use text donation services.

Vodafone New Zealand FoundationEstablished in 2002 as a charitable trust, the Vodafone

New Zealand Foundation is one of 27 Vodafone

Foundations around the world. Funded by the Vodafone

New Zealand business and the Vodafone Foundation

in the UK, it works with charities and partners that are

focussed on improving outcomes for Kiwi youth.

The Foundation has a vision of all young Kiwis

engaged in meaningful learning.

The Foundation does this through a number of

programmes – most notably, World of Difference.

The World of Difference programme pays the salary

and expenses for a handful of passionate people to

work in the youth charity of their choice for a year.

Since it was established, there have been 73 World

of Difference recipients.

The Vodafone Foundation Canterbury Fund was

established in partnership with the Christchurch

Earthquake Appeal Trust in 2011. It is a fund to help

rebuild Christchurch communities, places and services.

So far it has distributed $2.3million to a variety of causes

from repairs to sports grounds, to counselling support,

from mentoring for children who lost loved ones to the

creation of new art spaces.

> TXT2Give.co.nz

> fundraiseonline.co.nz

> vodafone.co.nz/txt2give

> foundation.vodafone.co.nz


Executive summary

$

Traditional methods

of fundraising (events,

annual appeal, and

direct debit) are

currently the most

effective fundraising

methods used in New

Zealand.

The majority of

charities found cost

to be the biggest

barrier to using

current text donation

services – there is a

real need for a low

cost option for the

charity sector.

Mobile apps are seen

as too expensive

and difficult to use

effectively

Social media

campaigns are also

a growing area for

fundraisers, used by

70% of charities, with

the majority using

them successfully

(74%).

The mobile phone is

having a huge impact

on fundraising.

96% of New Zealand

charities see text

donation as a key

opportunity for future

campaigns.

The public are confident

in using their mobile for

payments.

Text works best when

integrated into an

overall fundraising

plan, and in particular

when there is a sense

of urgency in the

campaign.


The fundraising landscape is rapidly changing. While

there are plenty of new technologies and innovations

for people to get involved and to donate, there are also

more charities competing for that involvement than

ever before. Because of this, New Zealand charities

have to be creative and use different ways to get the

attention of donors.

“It’s up to us to think smarter. We are always keen to look into different ways that make the donating process easier.” – Susanne Ritzenhoff, Youthline

How New Zealand charities fundraise todayThe most common and successful methods used

by charities in New Zealand today are also the most

traditional. Fundraising events (45.5%), annual appeals

(31.5%) and direct debit (22%) remain the most

effective, while grants and funding applications (18%)

and direct mail (18%) came in closely behind.

While new innovations like app development, mobile

optimisation and text donations were recognised by

surveyed charities as good opportunities, they were

often perceived as too costly.

Almost 90 per cent of New Zealand charities surveyed

have never used mobile phone apps for fundraising, and

while some have looked in to the possibility, they are

concerned that return on investment will be difficult to

achieve.

“We did consider putting together an educational app; however, by the time we applied for the educational grant, the cost of producing the app had quadrupled.” – Daren Grover, Project Jonah.

Fundraising today

11%

20%

31.5%

22%

4%

45.5%

18%

18%

What are the most effective forms offundraising used by your charity?

$

Street cash collection

Through website

Annual appeal

Direct debit

Text donations

Fundraising events

Direct mail

Grants & funding


As of 2013, almost half (44 per cent) of Kiwis who

access the internet have done so via a smartphone and

that number will continue to rise. Plus with 1.8 million

New Zealanders owning a smartphone, it is clear this is a

serious emerging market for charities to consider. Some

of the charities spoken to were looking into, or in the

process of, adapting their websites to be mobile-friendly,

and most said they are aware of the growing percentage

of users accessing their website via a smartphone.

The majority of charities who’ve used social media

campaigns have found them somewhat successful and

recognise they can be used in a variety of ways, through

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and more. All

charities surveyed are using social media in some way

to help promote their fundraising activities and find it

an important channel, giving them the opportunity to

engage more directly with their audience.

The research shows there is an opportunity to utilise

technology for fundraising and exposure for charities

in the future; however, experiences and learnings need

to be shared so charities can adapt going forward.

Foundations are looking for innovative ideas, and

encourage charities to take risks and think of bold ideas.

Fundraising is a crowded space, so thinking outside the

square is vital.

“We’ve found it’s necessary to embrace social media channels. One-off fundraising is a lot trickier, especially when you have no budget.” – Daren Grover, Project Jonah

“We do use social media sites in our fundraising plans. Social media works better than apps and has had a massive impact.” – Brook Turner, Zeal

Many charities have come to the conclusion that it’s

easier to play it ‘safe’ when it comes to funding, and

in particular when applying for funding applications.

However, from an educational perspective in particular

we are beginning to see more interest in the use of new

innovations. Mobile phone apps, crowdfunding websites

and social media campaigns are some of the newer

alternatives beginning to gain traction.

“Technology is saturating the market. Four years ago you could get real cut-through on Facebook, but now it is all very muddled. It is like walking through Times Square – we are just another noise on another page. People now tend to have the ability to block out peripheral material and focus on just what they are after.” – Brook Turner, Zeal


Why is text fundraising not more prominent for New Zealand charities today? While 96 per cent of those surveyed see text

fundraising as an opportunity for New Zealand

charities, more than half believe cost and the inability

to provide follow-up contact with the donor is a barrier.

Other barriers include complexity to set up and a focus

on a short-term relationship with the donor.

Text donation has been around for some time, but

with limited success in New Zealand. From a global

perspective it is becoming the cornerstone for many

organisations’ fundraising campaigns – particularly

when mobile usage is growing faster than most other

channels. Text fundraising enables charities to provide

an instant donation service, allowing donors to text

a specified number and a donation is simply added

to their phone bill. It’s a quick and easy method for

fundraisers and can be used as a call to action for many

different campaigns.

“I love it – I think it’s a nice and easy light touch way of donating. For me, running a small charity, it levelled the playing field… we can now do everything that the big nationals can.” – UK respondent

“We trialled using text to give at our annual appeal, but this was not as successful as we’d hoped. The costs of the fees were nearly the same as the funds raised. We would still be interested in using this service, but it would have to be advantageous to us and the donor – we don’t want to incur the large extra fees.” – Patrick Cummings, Red Cross

The current text donation services available in New

Zealand are expensive, making cost a significant barrier.

However, all recipients agree a low cost service can

contribute significant value to the right campaign.

The general public trusts text donations as a method

conceptually, as demonstrated by large scale campaigns

Text Fundraising

Do you see ‘text to give’ as an opportunity for New Zealand charities?

96% Yes

4%


such as the New Zealand Red Cross 2011 Earthquake

Appeal. The public are also using their mobile phones

more for financial transactions – like parking, paying

bills and shopping online. As we move further towards

being a cashless society, text makes sense for many

charities. Some of those we spoke to felt that the

traditional street appeal is being increasingly impacted

each year.

The mobile phone is an obvious way of combatting

the issue.

“Cost is currently the biggest barrier. We would be interested in payment plans, for example, options for smaller monthly fees or a ‘per campaign’ pricing structure at a reasonable level. Text donation services for the bigger charities are more affordable, but for the smaller charities it can be a bit of a struggle due to cost.” – Brook Turner, Zeal

$

?

What do you consider to be the main barriers for using a text donation service to date?

Cost

Complex to set up

Complex for donors

Market not ready for text donations

Short term relationship

Inability to provide follow up contact

M A K I N G F U N D R A I S I N G E A S Y 8

56%

35%

11%

6%

43%

53%


Text donation is a key opportunity for New Zealand.

Almost all the charities we spoke to identified text as

a focus area for their organisation in the future. While

some had tried text donation in the past, as there were

no low cost options available at the time, they found

it too expensive and therefore unsuccessful. As we

launch our new low cost service, TXT2Give, we hope this

will change – and more organisations will be given an

opportunity to try out this new method of fundraising.

Successful text donation campaigns.The majority of UK charities we spoke to had used

text successfully, benefiting from Vodafone’s low cost

service, which we are now bringing to New Zealand. In

the UK text is now seen as another channel within the

fundraising toolkit. The key is the ability to incorporate

text into their overarching fundraising strategy and

develop marketing plans to promote them in as many

places as possible. Many saw text as a way of reaching

new audiences, as well as providing their current

supporters with a new way to donate.

All saw the immediacy of text as one of its greatest

benefits – allowing people to donate any time and any

where. Key to this is ensuring your organisation’s text

donation details are provided in the right places to catch

your target audience. The focus is then to persuade

them to give to your cause – emphasising why their

money is needed and what their donation can achieve.

“I can’t imagine any charity is ever going to be 100% text, but I think that for things like emergencies, for things like lead generation, getting messages out quickly, I think it’s a fantastic medium, really – lots of opportunities.” – UK respondent

“It is all about matching the different channels to the target audience – there are many channels available, we need to find the ones which best reach our audience.” – Susanne Ritzenhoff, Youthline

Attracting a new group of donors One of the key benefits of text donation is that it can

open the door for new donors to get involved. All the UK

charities that had used and analysed their text donation

data reported that the majority of text donors were new.

While they found text does appeal to the millennial

generation, this is not unanimous. Text donors came

from across the age and cultural spectrum, and many

seem only to want to interact via their mobile phone.

The opportunity for text fundraising

10M A K I N G F U N D R A I S I N G E A S Y M A K I N G F U N D R A I S I N G E A S Y

Providing a sense of urgency Charities found that the most successful text campaigns

were those that engendered a sense of urgency such

as a call to action in response to a specific crisis. Given

the immediacy of text donations, it allows people to act

spontaneously as soon as they see the need. Text has

been used successfully for a number of key campaigns

of this type including the Red Cross Red Alert appeal

following the Christchurch Earthquake.

“The projects that were the most tangible and the most immediate with the strongest need had the biggest impact.” – UK respondent

“I increasingly think that we associate texting with immediacy. And the most successful ways that it is being done isthe urgent emergency stuff. I don’t see it working quite so well for things that aren’t so urgent or immediate.” – UK respondent

“It’s great because what we’re seeing is that it’s not cannibalising from our other channels. It does appear to be a new way of giving that’s bringing in new people who wouldn’t have otherwise given to us. So that’s great.” – UK respondent

“It does appeal to the younger person, it is their way of donating, it is spontaneous, immediate.” – Patrick Cummings, Red Cross

10


A captive audience Charities have also had significant success in using text

donation to entice action from people at events. Many

charities had developed campaigns to specifically meet

these criteria, setting up quiz nights and dinners and

ensuring the text donation details play a key role in

the evening’s proceedings. With 46% of New Zealand

charities referencing events as a successful method of

fundraising, the opportunity to also incorporate text

opens up new possibilities for these events.

Text is also seen as a successful tool in fundraising at

public events. One UK charity had major success when

it was able to have a footballer read out the charity’s text

donation details at half time at a football match urging

fans into action. Nearly all UK charities we spoke to saw

this as a key aspect of text donation, and actively looked

for ways it could be further incorporated into their

fundraising plans.

It’s all in the name One of the greatest challenges shared by the UK

charities from when they began using text was how to

set up the reference codes to get the best results. The

most successful campaigns are those where the code

is clearly aligned with the cause or campaign, and is

also easy to remember. It should also be distinct from

any other campaign that is currently running. A simple

example from Cancer Research UK was the use of the

word BEAT – emphasising that donors were now playing

their part in beating cancer.

“Something that will make people give now – a sense of urgency, and clear design so that it’s easy to read.” – UK respondent

“It gives people instant engagement. The key is to find a memorable word which can be embedded so they can respond the first time they see it, or if they want to follow up later.” – Daren Grover, Project Jonah

Understanding the limitations of text donation A limitation of text donation is the inability to contact

donors once they have donated. In New Zealand, the

Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 means that

while you can thank donors for their contribution, you

cannot maintain that contact unless they specifically

give you permission. While many charities see this as

a challenge, they still see the value of text donation

services. Charities use other methods for donors to

make contact, for example via their website or

Facebook page.


“Data is hard to come by and it is important to monitor where donations are coming from. I would like to retain data to be able to thank donors and engage with them to see if they would be interested in giving again.” – Susanne Ritzenhoff, Youthline.

“We find that data is hard to come by, we want to monitor where donations are coming from and to understand more about our donors. Text does make that more difficult.” – UK respondent

Reputational benefits Text donation services allow smaller charities to

compete with their larger peers in the crowded

fundraising space. Many of the smaller UK charities

found the greatest benefit of text was it made their

organisation seem more professional. Having text details

printed on marketing materials gave organisations

greater impact, and led donors to feel more secure in

their donations.

“JustTextGiving had a great impact on my charity’s annual golf day – we were suddenly so much more professional as an organisation” – UK respondent


The Red Alert appeal of September 2010

supported the victims of the first Christchurch

earthquake and saw Vodafone customers

donating over $125,000 via text. After the

devastating earthquake of February 2011,

Vodafone customers donated a further

$615,000 to the cause, with all the money

given to the New Zealand Red Cross.

The hugely successful Vodafone Red Alert

appeal used a variety of advertising mediums

to promote the cause, ensuring the message

was seen by a lot of people in a lot of places. In

addition, people got behind the campaign by

liking and sharing it on Facebook and

re-tweeting it on Twitter. This viral marketing

strongly encouraged friends of friends to donate.

Red Alert for Christchurch Earthquake



Technology is evolving rapidly, challenging charities

to adapt and think of innovative and creative ways to

engage their audiences and raise funds.

All the charities we spoke to discussed the innate sense

of responsibility they felt over the funds that they raise,

wanting to ensure their campaigns generate the most

value for their organisations. This can often mean new

innovations are deemed to be too much of a risk. Most

of the charities surveyed had considered channels

such as mobile phone and social media campaigns, but

for the large part had not used them. Those that had

dabbled in these new areas had done so with limited

success. However, a number of charities felt these would

be areas of interest in the future, particularly once they

have been tried and tested in the industry.

The rise of ownership of mobile phones – particularly

smartphones – is giving new emphasis to this device.

Whether through text donation, mobile apps or simply

the ability to interact with charities’ websites or social

media platforms, mobile phones are having a major

impact on the industry. New Zealand and UK charities

are looking to move into the mobile space. All see the

need to develop responsive or mobile friendly websites,

but for many the cost of doing this is a barrier. Social

media platforms are being used to fill that void in the

meantime.

Social media Most charities recognise the social media opportunity

with 78% now using social media to help promote their

fundraising activities. According to Nielsen research,

today 2.8 million* New Zealanders regularly visit social

Other fundraising innovations

Which of these channels would you use to raise funds for your charity in the future?

70%

55%

70%

78%

Mobile phone apps

Crowd sourcing

Retail partnerships

Social media campaigns

*Numbers taken from Nielsen – The media landscape in 2013


network sites (at least once per month), making this

an important way for charities to stay connected with

donors.

The charities surveyed saw social media platforms as

the key mechanism for them to stay at the forefront of

their audiences’ minds and to begin to really engage,

encouraging two way conversations. Many discussed

campaigns such as the ‘ALS Ice Bucket Challenge’

and the ‘No Makeup Selfie’ as having a big impact on

their organisations, and encouraging them to think of

ways they can incorporate similar ideas into their own

programmes. Social media also lends itself to being

incorporated into other campaigns. Cure Kids recently

developed a Facebook campaign that also incorporated

text donations. The ‘text-tiggy’ campaign encouraged

users to text a donation and then tag a friend on

Facebook to do the same, resulting a chain effect as

more and more users contributed to the campaign.

“The ‘ALS Ice Bucket Challenge’ and the ‘No Makeup Selfie’ campaigns have changed the way fundraisers think about social media. Initially many charities were thinking of it as another channel to inform people of what’s going on with the charity, however this has now challenged that thinking. Now charities need to think about how they engage with donors and create something accessible, on mission that delivers instant social recognition – creating a community.” – Dellwyn Stuart, Cure Kids

Mobile phone apps Mobile phone apps are another innovation having an

impact on the sector. With the number of smartphone

users in New Zealand now as high as 1.8million** , many

charities see them as a key vehicle for the future (70%),

but are currently unsure of how to use them effectively.

The majority of charities which had tried mobile

phone apps had failed to make them successful as a

fundraising tool. The set-up costs often outweigh their

fundraising potential. The app also has to be promoted,

adding further to the cost.

Social Media Campaigns

45%

Never used

Somewhat successful

Very successful

Not successful

8%

18%

29%

**Numbers taken from Nielsen – The media landscape in 2013

Never used

Somewhat successful

Very successful

Not successful

88%

6%5%

1%

Mobile Phone Apps


“I think that they’re overrated. Charities know that apps are the future of technology, but don’t know how to incorporate the app to work for them. I think collaboration apps should be on offer for charities to democratise services to different groups of people within charities. Research shows young people go to YouTube, Google and their social media platform, not necessarily websites and apps.” – Brook Turner, Zeal

While the majority of charities were sceptical of mobile

phone apps for fundraising, some did see their value

as an educational tool. The opportunity to develop a

tool which is fun to use, but also spreads awareness of

key messages, or which directly helps the recipients

of the charity are seen as key the future development

of apps for the charitable sector by several of the

respondents.

“We recently launched our Hongi app, where users can place red noses on their own photos to share across social networks. The app is available to anyone, but we encourage users to send a text to donate for purchasing the app. Our primary focus is on raising awareness of the Red Nose campaign.” - Dellwyn Stuart, Cure Kids

One trend which looks likely to continue is the

development of partnership apps where charities and

brands work together to develop mobile campaigns.

This approach takes much of the risk away from the

charities, while also allowing key brands to evidence

their contribution to society.

Crowdfunding Crowdfunding has become another area of interest for

charities, with 40% of those surveyed saying they have

used it for fundraising in the past, with the majority

doing so with some success.

Respondents felt that crowdfunding worked particularly

well for funding for specific projects, rather than for

open appeals or ongoing donations. Many felt the lack

of direct engagement with donors was also an issue,

with charities needing to find new ways to reward and

interact with these new contributors.

Never used

Somewhat successful

Very successful

Not successful59%

28%

8%

5%

Crowdfundingsites

People love to donate by text – it’s instant and easy. So we’ve teamed up with FundraiseOnline to create TXT2Give, to enable Vodafone customers to easily give to your charity.

Getting started with TXT2GiveOnce you’ve become a FundraiseOnline customer, Vodafone TXT2Give is a breeze to set-up.

1. Join FundraiseOnline Sign up to be a FundraiseOnline

customer. Go to

www.txt2give.co.nz/register.aspx

to start this process.

2. Choose your keywordPick a short, memorable keyword

that reflects your cause. Request or

change keywords at

www.txt2give.co.nz/register.aspx

3. Start campaign Use social media, TXT, email and other

marketing to help get your keyword

out there.

4. Receive fundsVodafone customers simply TXT

your keyword to a shortcode to

donate funds. You receive monthly

payments to your nominated account.

FundariseOnline provides receipts to

customers for $5/$10 donations.

TXT2GivePowered by Vodafone

Fundraising is easy with TXT2Give


KEYWORD START CAMPAIGN $3

DONATE

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