The best UK charity text donation services

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This article has been updated as of 27/04/2020

The outbreak of Covid-19 has impacted the fundraising revenue of many charities, with organisations now having to be more innovative in order to bring in donations. Text donation services are a great way to quickly fundraise and are convenient and easy for both charities and donors to use. Offering the option of text donation works well with the increasingly creative digital appeals charities are using, such as social media videos or virtual events.

In November 2018 charity text donation service JustTextGiving, run by JustGiving and Vodafone, announced that it would be shutting down from the 31st March 2019, having raised £42.5m for more than 25,000 charities over its eight-year life.

JustGiving pulled the rug on SMS giving citing a changing mobile technology landscape. But as we showed in an infographic last year, charity text donations are actually on the rise, as the massive success of telefon events like Comic Relief, Sport Relief and BBC Children in Need continue to demonstrate. The recent televised fundraising collaboration between BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief raised a total of 67 million, with the option to donate up to £30 via text donation.

Comic Relief’s 2017 Red Nose Day fundraiser pulled in more than £9.5m in text donations on one night, thanks to introducing the new ability for supporters to give up to £20 by text.

Giving via text message is an extremely quick way to donate and it clearly still works, particularly during live events or face-to-face campaigns where supporters can simply enter a short code to donate there and then without needing internet connection or to go to a website and enter any details.

JustTextGiving may be out of the picture but the options for charities are growing - there are now ways to give regularly via text message, as well as to add Gift Aid. So, what next for charities who still want to take advantage of SMS giving?

We’ve put together this quick guide to a few of the best UK text-to-donate platforms and services. While there are a few mobile marketing agencies offer text payment services that can be used by charities, we’ve picked out the ones that are dedicated, standalone platforms for charities in their own right.

Donr

Launched in November 2018, Donr jumped in to offer charities a dedicated text giving platform aimed at giving supporters a quick and convenient way to give both one-off amounts and regular giving through their mobile number.

There is a maximum donation limit of £20 per text donation. However, supporters can give more by sending multiple texts, although there are limits to this. Charities have a choice of any keyword or multiple keywords at no additional charge. Supporters can choose to also give by credit and debit cards, or Apple and Google Pay, as well as by text, through their own branded mobile-optimised page. GiftAid can be added to any donation.

Donr charges a 5% fee (+VAT) per donation, though there is no set up or monthly fee. The organisation also provides training and support for charities around their mobile fundraising- all of Donr’s charity partners have the opportunity to chat to a dedicated ‘digital strategist’ to find out how to get the most out of text giving for their organisation, brush up on digital skills or learn a brand new skill altogether at no extra charge.

What makes it stand out? With a focus on regular giving and mobile fundraising strategy, Donr opens up a new option for charities wishing to engage new long-term supporters outside of just a fundraising event context. Once your keywords are set up you can monitor all their progress and see donations come in in real-time. Supporters can enter a specific keyword to give monthly by text, which the organisation says offers a convenient option particularly for younger donors who are comfortable with mobile giving and ready to explore more ways to give.