The festive season is always about goodwill, and spreading a little kindness whenever we can. With this in mind, charities are increasing their efforts to encourage support and donations, particularly when it comes to mobile. As an area of growing importance, how is this platform being used to encourage giving? 

2014 saw £115 million donated via mobile text messages, with 2015 set to be even bigger- a predicted £124 million is expected to be generated via SMS donations, with the majority of this likely to center around the holiday period. In anticipation of this, Oxfam America has revealed they will be using locational mobile marketing to target consumers this season. In partnership with location-based marketing firm xAd, the charity’s campaign will work by reaching people nearby to their out-of-home adverts at bus stations, airports, grocery stores, and designated PATH stations in New York and New Jersey. To mark Remembrance Sunday, The Royal British Legion utilized smartphone technology to encourage donations towards its annual Poppy Appeal. This year, the organization enabled smartphone users to scan images of the poppy featured on their out-of-home adverts such as campaign posters and newspaper mastheads, using the Blippar mobile phone app. Once scanned, users would be able to gain access to The Royal British Legion’s other digital content, including the campaign video, the stories behind the posters, and an image gallery of people re-enacting photos from the past. The extra content also pushed viewers towards the campaign on social media, as well as the online donation page.

And when it comes to giving, there are many apps in place to encourage evergreen donations for specific charities. The Foodbank app for instance, is one such which supports the work of local food banks, by showing users stock levels, and making donations easy through its CMS. Users are alerted to the categories which need attention, with the terms “urgent”, “in short supply” and “well stocked”, so they know which area to donate to. Users can also opt to receive push notifications as to when their local food banks are in particularly short supply of certain items. As a result of this app, the Glasgow branch of Foodbank received over £1000 worth of donations in just one week. Then there’s Dare to Donate, an app which encourages users to vote for others to complete a dare or challenge in exchange for donations on behalf of their chosen charity- donations then go to the charity’s Just Giving page. Feedie is another such app that draws upon user engagement in order to generate donations. The app allows users to choose nearby participating restaurants, in which they can then take and upload pictures of their food. For every image shared to the app, the participating restaurant then makes a donation to the Lunchbox fund, a charity that provides meals for South African children.

How effectively do you think mobile is in encouraging donations? Do you think charities should combine SMS and an app campaign as part of their mobile strategy? We’d love to hear your thoughts as always, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital, and share your comments on our Facebook page.