Top 9 Text-To-Donate Platforms to Support Mobile Giving
Donors are always looking for more convenient ways to support the nonprofits they care about. Since 98% of Americans own a cell phone, giving via mobile is becoming increasingly popular.
In 2023, revenue from mobile messages increased by 14%, and text fundraising campaigns generated $92 for every 1,000 messages sent. Text-to-donate is an efficient, effective way to raise funds via SMS and make giving a part of donors’ routines.
This guide will help you get started with text-to-donate by covering the following topics:
- Text-to-donate FAQs
- 5 steps to set up a text-to-donate campaign
- Top 9 text-to-donate platforms
- Text-to-donate best practices
Text-to-donate FAQs
What is text-to-donate?
Text-to-donate is a type of campaign that allows people to donate money to your organization from their cell phones via text message. It’s also referred to as text-to-give or text-to-pledge.
How does text-to-donate work?
These are the main steps involved in the text-to-donate process:
- Your nonprofit registers with a text-to-donate software platform to get started.
- Once you register, the platform will provide you with a phone number to use when engaging with your donor base.
- Choose a short keyword (like DONATE or SUPPORT) for donors to send to your nonprofit’s phone number.
- Donors text the keyword to your phone number.
- Donors receive a link to your donation page and contribute.
What are the benefits of text-to-donate?
By leveraging text-to-donate tools, your nonprofit will be able to:
- Make donating more efficient by allowing donors to contribute without sitting at their computers and manually visiting your donation page
- Save time through automated campaigns and messages that reach donors instantly
- Easily track donations from offline sources like donation letters and handouts
- Target specific audiences with customized messages via segmentation
- Collect helpful donor data like names and email addresses to use in future engagement efforts
What’s the difference between text-to-donate and text-to-give?
While text-to-donate and text-to-give are both effective forms of mobile fundraising, they have a few slight differences:
- Text-to-donate involves sending donors a link to your donation page. They’ll click the link to complete your donation form and contribute immediately.
- Text-to-give requires donors to text a donation amount to your fundraising phone number. Then, donors’ cell phone carriers bill these donations to their phone bills, process the donations, and transfer them to your nonprofit.
Although text-to-donate takes a little extra work, it’s a more efficient way for your nonprofit to receive funds.
Can small nonprofits use text-to-donate?
Nonprofits of all sizes can use and benefit from text-to-donate. Naturally, a nonprofit’s size often impacts its budget, which may dictate what kind of text-to-donate platform it can afford. Thankfully, there is a wide range of price and feature options, making text-to-donate a very accessible fundraising tool for all nonprofits.
5 steps to set up a text-to-donate campaign
1. Choose a text-to-donate platform.
A strong text-to-donate campaign starts with a solution that can support your needs, streamline giving, and maximize funds. Look for a platform that offers features like:
- Customization options
- Automation
- User-friendly interface
- Quick fund access
- Customer support
- Transparent pricing
- Integration with your other fundraising tools
We’ll review some of our top text-to-donate software recommendations in the next section.
2. Select a keyword.
Next, you’ll choose a keyword for supporters to text to your fundraising phone number. The best text fundraising keywords are:
- Short
- Easy to spell
- Unique to your campaign or organization
For example, if you’re running a text-to-give campaign to supplement your upcoming 5K, you might select the keyword “5K2025” since it relates directly to your campaign.
3. Customize your messages.
Develop a communication cadence for your text-to-donate campaigns. Leverage automation to personalize these messages using donors’ names and involvement details.
For example, you may create a segment for recurring givers, sending them a “Welcome back!” message that thanks them for their continued support.
4. Develop a donation form.
While you likely already have a standard donation page, consider creating a simpler, mobile-focused option to direct text-to-donate donors to. This form should collect basic information like:
- Donation amount
- Name
- Billing address
- Contact information
- Payment details
Additionally, you may provide a few suggested donation amounts for donors to choose from to guide their giving decisions.
5. Send reminders.
Lastly, follow up with donors about giving opportunities. Take advantage of your platform’s automation tools to keep donors in the know without burdening your team.
Top 9 text-to-donate platforms
| Text-to-Donate Platform | Best For | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Qgiv by Bloomerang | Comprehensive fundraising | $159/month and 3.95% + $0.30 per transaction |
| Snowball Fundraising | Flexible fundraising phone numbers | Various plans |
| Handbid | Auction fundraising | Starts at $1,396 with single event and multi-event packages available and 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction |
| Tatango | Political organizations | Contact for pricing |
| Give Lively | Small or new nonprofits | Free with transaction fees depending on your payment processor |
| Tithe.ly | Versatility | $19/month with transaction fees depending on the payment method |
| GiveWP | WordPress users | $79/year with additional transaction fees from Stripe and Twilio |
| Pledge | Covering transaction fees | $5 disbursement fee and 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee for donations over $1,000 |
| Donorbox | Quick setup | $19/month with a standard keyword and $50/month with a custom keyword, with transaction fees depending on the payment method |
Qgiv by Bloomerang: Best for comprehensive fundraising
Best for: Nonprofits looking for a text-to-donate platform that connects to a full suite of other fundraising tools and Bloomerang CRM for comprehensive, cohesive fundraising
Top features:
- Ability to send outbound texts, reminder messages, and pledge collections to engage donors in various ways via SMS
- Segmented donor lists to deliver more relevant messages that boost conversions
- FundHub Live, which enables your organization to generate excitement with a real-time activity feed and campaign thermometer
- Customizable dashboards and reporting tools to track campaign performance and adjust your strategy as needed
How it works:
Check out this video to see Qgiv’s text fundraising tools in action:
Case study:
Hear about Qgiv’s powerful text-to-donate features from a real customer:
“We used the text-to-donate tool for our scholarship luncheon. We had a goal of about $1,500, and we far exceeded that goal just from text donations. People were really interested in that.”
“We also use Qgiv for our donation page and our peer-to-peer fundraising activities. We’re able to clone the events, so I don’t have to spend a lot of time recreating an event with the same criteria as a previous one. It definitely saves me a lot of time!”
Taylor Millspaugh, Business Development Specialist, Big Brothers Big Sisters Rhode Island
Pricing: $159/month, which includes text donations, outbound messages and reminders, screencast, and training, and 3.95% + $0.30 per transaction
Snowball Fundraising: Best for flexible fundraising phone numbers
Best for: Nonprofits looking to use a specific type of fundraising phone number, whether local, toll-free, or shortcode
Top features:
- Ability to choose from different types of phone numbers, including local, toll-free, or shortcode numbers, depending on your nonprofit’s needs
- Options for text-to-bid for auctions, text-to-ticket for events, and text-to-tithe for churches
- Unlimited inbound text messages to collect as many donations as possible
Pricing: Snowball Fundraising offers the following pricing plans:
- Essential: Free with 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (does not include text-to-donate)
- Premium: $549/year and 2.5% + $0.30 per transaction
- Professional: $849/year and 2.5% + $0.30 per transaction
- Enterprise: Starts at $99/month and 2.5% + $0.30 per transaction
Handbid: Best for auction fundraising
Best for: Nonprofits running text-to-donate campaigns in conjunction with auctions
Top features:
- Simple, shortcode-based messaging to easily communicate with donors
- Interactive keyword response feature to drive donations, event registrations, or merchandise sales
- Integration with existing donor profiles and payment information in Handbid
Pricing: Starts at $1,396 with single event and multi-event packages available and 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction
Tatango: Best for political organizations
Best for: Nonprofits looking for a text-to-donate solution that integrates with political fundraising platforms and enables political fundraising campaigns
Top features:
- Advanced segmentation to target specific audiences
- AI-enhanced editor to help generate text message content
- Integrations with several fundraising solutions and CRMs
Pricing: Contact Tatango for pricing information.
Give Lively: Best for small or new nonprofits
Best for: Small or new nonprofits looking for a basic, cost-effective way to run text-to-donate campaigns
Top features:
- Unlimited text campaigns to support various fundraising needs
- Free shortcode to lessen costs and streamline campaigns
- Ability to customize your text-to-donate campaign donation page
Pricing: Free with transaction fees depending on your third-party payment processor
Tithe.ly: Best for church fundraising
Best for: Churches looking for an affordable way to run text-to-donate campaigns
Top features:
- Recurring gift functionality that donors can set up via text-to-donate
- Secure storage of donor payment information for convenient giving
- Automated text and email donation receipts to show appreciation and enable tax deductibility
Pricing: Tithe.ly offers the following pricing plans:
- Free Giving: Free (does not include text-to-donate)
- Giving + Church Management: $72/month (includes text messaging but not text-to-donate)
- All-Access: $119/month
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Tithe.ly also offers text-to-give as a stand-alone service for $19/month. All plans have additional transaction fees depending on the payment method, with 2.9% for credit card transactions and 1% for ACH transactions.
GiveWP: Best for WordPress users
Best for: Nonprofits already using WordPress donation forms looking for a simple way to incorporate text-to-donate
Top features:
- Integration with WordPress for a cohesive user experience
- Customization options to tailor messages for different campaigns
- Real-time donation tracking to keep your team informed
Pricing: Available as an add-on for $79/year with additional transaction fees from Stripe and Twilio
Pledge: Best for covering transaction fees
Best for: Nonprofits looking for a text-to-donate platform that covers transaction fees for smaller donations (under $1,000)
Top features:
- Options to customize your keyword, bounceback message, and donation amounts
- Ability to accept donations from various options, including credit cards, Bemo, PayPal, cryptocurrency, stock, donor-advised funds (DAF), Apple Pay, and Google Pay
- Recurring giving feature to enable continuous donations seamlessly
Pricing: $5 disbursement fee to receive funds and 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee for donations over $1,000
Donorbox: Best for quick setup
Best for: Nonprofits looking for a text-to-donate platform that they can get up and running with quickly
Top features:
- Customizable keywords to reflect your cause, campaign, and branding
- Shortcode that’s easy for donors to remember and contribute to
- Repeat donation options that allow donors to give regularly without filling out your donation form again
Pricing: Available as an add-on for $19/month with a standard keyword and $50/month with a custom keyword with transaction fees depending on the payment method
Text-to-donate best practices
Develop instructions.
Make it easy for donors to participate in text-to-donate by providing clear instructions. Walk donors through the process step-by-step. Then, share these steps via email, social media, and in person to guide them. Consider attaching visuals like screenshots and/or videos so people can easily follow along and submit their contributions.
Test the process ahead of time.
Once you’ve set up your first text-to-give campaign, have a few staff members test it. That way, you can gather feedback before opening it up to your entire donor base. You may even host a brief focus group to get people’s thoughts and work out any improvements.
Promote text-to-donate across channels.
Share this new donation method widely through channels such as email, social media, blog posts, and direct mail. Explain the benefits of contributing through text-to-donate, such as added convenience, and encourage supporters to join in.
Thank donors.
After donors contribute, automate thank-you messages that acknowledge their support. Attach donation receipts that they can keep in their records and use for tax deduction purposes.
Evaluate metrics.
Review text fundraising metrics like open rate and conversion rate to determine your successes and identify areas for improvement. You may also directly survey text-to-donate donors to gather qualitative feedback about their experiences.
Additional resources
A text-to-donate campaign makes it easy to meet donors where they are—on their cell phones—and raise money in minutes via text messages. If you’re interested in learning about other fundraising opportunities, check out these additional resources:
- Donation Pages: The Ultimate Guide and 30 Best Practices. You’ll direct donors to your donation page when they participate in text-to-donate. Learn how to optimize your donation page for best results.
- 35+ Game-Changing Nonprofit Software Solutions for 2025. Text-to-donate software is only one type of nonprofit software solution. Explore additional options you may adopt in this guide.
- 14 Exceptional Nonprofit Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Platforms. Peer-to-peer fundraising allows your supporters to take the lead and raise money on your nonprofit’s behalf. Check out these standout peer-to-peer fundraising platforms.
