The Legalities of Text Donations: Compliance and Regulations

By accepting text donations, your nonprofit can open up a reliable and lucrative revenue stream to power its mission. However, as with most areas of nonprofit fundraising and finance, there are some rules you must follow.

Text messaging is a highly personal and immediate way to communicate with your audience. You can reach donors during their morning commute on the bus or while they’re lounging at home on the couch. Because of this, there are laws in place to protect individuals from receiving unwanted calls or texts.

Let’s examine the legalities surrounding text donations and discuss how your nonprofit can make the most of this channel while remaining compliant.

Whether you’ve just started a nonprofit or your organization is looking to tap into new funding sources, text-to-give can be a game-changing addition to your fundraising strategy.

The process is simple: Donors text a keyword to your nonprofit’s phone number, receive engaging messages from your organization, and receive a link to your mobile-friendly donation page—allowing them to support your mission instantly. However, when creating your text-to-give strategy, you must be aware of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and its guidelines.

The TCPA applies to nonprofits, businesses, political campaigns, and other groups that engage in phone-based communications. Specifically, nonprofits enjoy a few key exemptions, for example:

• Tax-exempt nonprofits can contact numbers listed on the National Do Not Call Registry as long as the purpose is charitable.
• Nonprofits can send prerecorded messages to phone numbers with only express consent (not requiring express written consent).
• Nonprofits can use autodialers to send calls or text messages with only express consent (not requiring express written consent).

If all these guidelines and stipulations appear overwhelming, don’t worry. Tatango’s text-to-give guide shares a simple solution: Partner with a text messaging provider with extensive knowledge of nonprofit text policies and experience in helping organizations like yours run compliant campaigns.

By learning how to maintain compliance from the start, your nonprofit can steer clear of common pitfalls and raise funds with confidence. Incorporate these best practices into your text fundraising strategy:

Before your nonprofit can contact supporters and engage them with personalized messages, you must secure their prior express consent.

Here are a few common ways to do so:

• On your donation page or event registration form, include a checkbox to opt into receiving text messages from your nonprofit.
• Share your nonprofit’s phone number and keyword on your website, email newsletter, and social media posts for supporters to text to opt in.
• Add a QR code to flyers and event decorations that leads to a text opt-in form.

As an extra precaution, consider asking text subscribers to reply to your opt-in confirmation with a specific keyword, such as “YES,” to verify that they actually want to subscribe to receive your messages.

Your nonprofit must provide text subscribers with a clear and easy way to opt out of receiving your messages. Specify this in all of your opt-in communications and include clear instructions for doing so in each text you send. For example, you can add “Reply STOP to opt out” or “STOP2END” at the end of your messages.

Set up an automatic acknowledgment message for subscribers who opt out to confirm that the change will go into effect immediately. Your nonprofit’s texting service should be able to process these requests promptly to avoid sending further messages to people who have unsubscribed.

To minimize the number of opt-outs your nonprofit receives, be mindful of the timing and frequency of your messages. Send texts at reasonable hours, and consider providing an option for subscribers to choose how many messages they receive per week or month.

Accurate recordkeeping is essential to maintaining streamlined and efficient nonprofit operations. The same applies to your text fundraising efforts.

By keeping clear and up-to-date records on your opt-ins, opt-outs, and subscribed phone numbers, your organization can avoid sending unwanted messages or leaving anyone out of the loop. NPOInfo’s data hygiene guide recommends:

• Standardizing data input practices, such as recording phone numbers as (123) 456-7890 rather than 123-456-7890.
• Scheduling frequent data back-ups to prevent losing anything in case of a software crash.
• Establishing a process for fixing incorrect, incomplete, or duplicate records in your database.

While your nonprofit may use an appending service to supplement its data with reliable, third-party information such as phone number appends, remember that you must still obtain consent from these individuals before contacting them via text.

Cover all your bases by carrying out regular compliance audits within your nonprofit. Use this checklist as a starting point:

• Verify you have obtained proof of consent. Ensure all forms and other relevant communications include language that tells potential subscribers they are opting into your texting list. Many nonprofits do this by having a checkbox, while others may include a link to the terms and conditions.
• Review your message templates and frequency. A consistent cadence lets your audience know what to expect from communications from your organization. Too many opt-outs could mean that your audience wants to hear from you less. On the other hand, too few messages won’t keep your organization top of mind.
• Check your opt-out process. As mentioned above, your nonprofit’s opt-out process should be in line with the TCPA. All text messages should include “STOP” or “STOP2END” so that subscribers know they can opt out of communications from your organization at any time. Test this process regularly to make sure everything works promptly and consistently.

Beyond respecting the privacy and convenience of your supporters, be sure to use a nonprofit texting platform that is SOC-compliant, meaning it adheres to the strictest standards to keep your subscribers’ data secure.

As with any nonprofit marketing initiative, look for improvement opportunities as you continue engaging your audience and collecting donations through text. Track metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and opt-out rates to learn what types of messages work well and where you can refine your strategy going forward.

Send out surveys to your text subscribers to better understand their communication preferences and tailor your approach accordingly.