You have the option to add an additional service to your OnlineFundraising setup, which is SMS Inbound.
This service allows you to use keywords to receive donations via text message marketing. A keyword is the word, that your donors or members type in the text field when they send a text message to your organisation.
In general, we distinguish between two different set-ups with SMS Inbound: with and without transactions.
- Transactional text messages: Transactional text messages are for those who need to use keywords that trigger a payment over and above the standard text message rate.
- Non-transactional text messages: are for those who don't need to accept donations that trigger a payment beyond the standard text message fee, but simply want to send a reply back. This could be for a petition or if you want to provide more information to your donors and members when they send a message to your organisation.
Shortcodes
To receive text message donations, you need a shortcode, which is a 4-digit number to which your donors or members send a message. At OnlineFundraising you can currently receive text messages free of charge on the numbers 1217, 1416, or 1962.
It's possible to have a shortcode that only your organisation uses. Learn more about pricing here or contact OnlineFundraising for more information.
Creating campaigns
Once you have reserved your keyword on a shortcode, you need to define what will happen to your incoming text messages. For this, we use the Campaigns function under SMS Inbound, where you also see a list of all the campaigns your organization has created.
When you create a new campaign, you can choose:
- Campaigns without text message reply
- Reply messages without charge
- Reply messages with payment
- Reply messages for fixed agreements
Webinar on text message campaigns
Watch our webinar on text message campaigns, where Stephan will walk you through what you can do with text message campaigns in OnlineFundraising and how to set up your campaigns.