How charities can use WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a free, multi-platform messaging app. With just a WiFi connection, users can make and receive calls, send voice, video, and text messages, update statuses, and make group calls.  

 

The platform can be accessed via app or the web and has arguably become one of the most popular and widely used apps of today. In 2019, WhatsApp served more than 2 billion people worldwide, with over a billion daily active users. 

 

 

Why use WhatsApp? 

 

Around two in five people own a smartphone globally and around 87% of smartphone owners use messaging apps. Almost all (98%) of WhatsApp messages are both opened and read, with many opened within the first 3 seconds of being sent, according to Hootsuite. 

 

That’s a huge pool of potential supporters who could read your messages. However, only about a third of charities are currently using messaging apps like WhatsApp to engage and communicate with their target audience. 

 

For the charities that are, there are plenty of huge fundraising benefits to be had. According to JustGiving, fundraisers raised £975,000 from WhatsApp sharing in 2015. This has increased in recent years, as more and more charities set up their own WhatsApp Giving features (in 2018, Islamic Relief UK raised £180,000 through WhatsApp). 

 

 

How to use WhatsApp for fundraising 

 

 

Get WhatsApp Business

  

Created with small businesses in mind, WhatsApp Business can be a great feature for charities looking to enhance their digital storytelling and reach new audiences.  

 

Free to download, the app makes it easy to connect with donors, highlight services, and answer questions. Plus, there’s functionality to automate, sort, and quickly respond to messages.  

 

The catalog feature can be used to support campaigns and sell merchandise. Learn more about how to create charity merchandise.  

 

 

Use Broadcasts and stories 

 

Similar to Instagram and Facebook stories, WhatsApp stories are a great way to share updates, engage networks, and ensure your campaign maintains momentum throughout the crowdfunding journey. 

 

With the broadcast feature, campaigners can send a message to several contacts at once. Broadcast lists are saved lists of message recipients that you can repeatedly send broadcast messages to without having to select them each time. 

 

At its basic level, WhatsApp is a social media platform. So, use it like one. Experiment with the app’s wide array of functions and features and use it in the ways that work for you.    

 

 

How to use WhatsApp beyond fundraising

 

 

Communicate with supporters and donors 

 

For-profit brands are using WhatsApp to engage customers at every stage of their purchase journey, from building brand awareness to providing automated customer service. But there are lessons non-profits can learn too.  

 

The Denan Project, is successfully leveraging WhatsApp to build digital journeys designed to turn one-time donors into long-term supporters. 

 

Another example is PETA. PETA started using WhatsApp as early as 2016 to support the email journey and encourage behavioural change. Around 700 participants received one message daily, containing content such nutritional information, recipes, and advice on shopping for vegan products. 

 

 

Create safe spaces and powerful communities 

 

No doubt, WhatsApp can be a powerful tool for engaging donors and communicating with supporters, but the platform is also being used by charities to create powerful communities and spark entire movements.  

 

In 2015, WeSpeakOut, the India-based organisation against Female Genital Mutilation started out with the "WeSpeakOut against FGM" WhatsApp Group. Today, WeSpeakOut reaches thousands of people through shareable WhatsApp messages and other social media platforms. The charity uses the platform not only to share information from its own website but support community engagement activities.  

 

Alliance for Choice, a Belfast-based feminist collective, uses the privacy and security WhatsApp offers with end-to-end encryption to protect the privacy of their communications and reach more women in need — from organizing rallies to arranging community workshops. Each of Alliance’s WhatsApp groups has between five and 230 members.

 

 

Coordinate volunteers  

 

WhatsApp is free. It’s internationally accessible. Plus, the app’s huge popularity means that training up members/volunteers on how to use it isn’t usually necessary.  

 

The Group feature allows ‘admins’ to message numerous members at once (up to 256 people). It’s also possible to send PDFs, documents, spreadsheets, and slideshows (up to 100 MB) without needing an email address or file sharing app.  

 

Caravanas do Amor, a non-profit based in São Paulo, Brazil, uses WhatsApp to coordinate volunteers before and during huge delivery campaigns.  

 

"Sometimes people imagine that we have this big structure behind us, organizing everything. In reality, it is just me, my mother, a few friends and a network on WhatsApp," said Felipe Cury, founder of Caravanas do Amor.