Ideas from Campaign 08: Use Mobile Message for Real-Time Results
	Posted by Tompkins Spann at Aug 22, 2008 12:10 PM CDT Categories: Nonprofit Trends

First, a confession.  I prepared content for this blog series months ago based on the primary efforts and have been simply making tweaks as new strategies emerge.  However, for this entry I'm going to scrap the initial idea for this post and focus on a brilliant new idea the Obama campaign has implemented.

Mobile messaging is hot, there's no doubt about it.  However, many nonprofits are still grappling with the right strategies to use this channel, not to mention the technical hurdles (psst... check out Mobile Commons technology).

I must admit, I've been impressed so far with the marketing strategies of the Obama team but their recent plans to use mobile messaging to announce his VP choice is brilliant.

This strategy is something nonprofits should consider replicating.  Here are some ideas that could be announced via text messaging:

• Announce the results of a legislative vote
• Announce a fundraising milestone
• Announce a key-note speaker for your conference
• Announce an urgent advocacy request to key super-activists

The key ingredient here is announcing something people who are already invested in your organization would want to know.  Therefore it's important to take into consideration their involvement.  For instance, only offer to announce the results of the above legislative vote to constituents who took action on the advocacy campaign and similarly with supporters who made a donation to help you hit that milestone.

Why do this?

Several reasons.  The Obama campaign will likely add thousands of new supporters via this strategy, but that is not always the case.  More importantly it provides valuable information to your key supporters, which strengthens your relationship and increases their investment in your cause.  Additionally, by providing you with their cell digits you've just learned how invested they really are with your org.  I mean, we don't just give out our cell numbers to anyone! So if an individual has yet to donate but provides their digits, there's a good chance they would be willing to donate or take further action in the future, and this is highly valuable information for your organization.

Resources:

• MobileActive.org- excellent source for activism strategies and news
• Mobile Commons- Convio technology partner with a super-cool integration using our APIs. 

Nonprofit Examples:

• NARAL Pro-Choice America - Txt4Choice
• Sierra Club - Campaign Messaging