Immediate, actionable engagement is just a ‘push’ away

Mobile apps make it easy to connect instantly with the right people

 

Texts are terrific. A supporter gives you a mobile number and the OK — and all of a sudden, your organization’s messaging can appear in the palm of his or her hand in an instance.

 

But is that the best we can hope for? Nope. Push notifications take that direct-to-their-cell-phones action to the next level.

 

Once your organization is using a mobile app — and it should be — you can use push notifications to send out actionable communications that are finely tailored to specific audiences and that make it incredibly easy for those audiences to act and engage with you. Nonprofits apps are perfect for donor communication, raising money and finding volunteers!

 

The immediacy with which push notifications arrive and are seen and acted on is what sets them apart from other forms of communication. You can send emails, but who knows when they’ll even be seen, much less opened? The lag time is unpredictable but generally getting longer, and open rates seem to be sinking — maybe 10 to 20 percent. Action rates are even lower.

 

Social media posts are quicker and great for blasting out information, but the immediacy still isn’t necessarily there. Plus, your messaging is pretty much at the mercy of the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. algorithms that decide who gets to see what.

 

Texts are more immediate, true, but they lack the personalization of push notifications and also could add additional costs depending on how often you text and how many people you send to.

 

Because they allow for such immediate, actionable, and tailored communications, mobile apps for nonprofits are quickly becoming an integral part of an organization’s toolbox for reaching and engaging everyone from donors to volunteers to board members and more — on a screen that most of us look at about 100 times a day.

 

Best,

– Your friends at NonprofitLibrary