In today’s fast-paced world, reaching your audience quickly and effectively is more important than ever. SMS text messaging boasts 5x more engagement than email, making it one of the most powerful tools for connecting with your audience. You can use text messaging to engage your donors and update them on what your organization is doing.
We’ve developed a built-in SMS platform that allows you to send targeted messages to your donors and contacts with just a few steps. This guide will show you how to create, schedule, and send SMS messages to your donors and contacts, as well as manage your messages and set up keyword auto-responses for common questions.
Note: Currently, text messaging is available for businesses that are based in the US and Canada.
It can take about upwards of two weeks for your account to be approved to send your first SMS message. If you would like to learn how to sign up for an SMS plan, click here.
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Create Your First Text Message
Hover over the Text Messaging tab in the top menu bar
Select the Text Message Blasts tab from the dropdown menu
Click Create Campaign
Add a Campaign Name for your text message. This is for internal and reporting purposes only
Set who you would like the text to send to
Past Registrants - This allows you to send texts to past donors on your GivingFuel page(s)
Contacts: This option allows you to send texts to all contacts in your account or to a targeted group of contacts that have been assigned a specific contact tag. To text contacts with a particular tag, choose Contacts, then select Contact Tags. From there, pick the tag(s) you’d like to send your message to. Click here to learn more about how to use our Contact Tagging feature!
If you use the Past Registrants option and send the text to a single page, add a Filter(s) to only send your text to donors who gave to your organization between specific dates. You can filter by Date Range or target donors based on whether they gave before or after a specific time
Pro Tip: If you send your text message to multiple contact tags, you can control how recipients are selected.
Match All: This option sends the text message only to contacts who have all of the selected tags
Match Any: This option sends the text message to contacts who have at least one of the selected tags
Note: The filtering option goes away when you send a text message to multiple pages. Filters are only available when you select one page per text message.
FAQs
Can I import phone numbers into my text?
Can I import phone numbers into my text?
Currently, the best way to import phone numbers into the system is by using the Import Contacts feature, and opting those numbers into SMS communication. During the import, you can assign an SMS tag to the contacts, allowing you to easily send text messages to anyone with that tag. Click here to learn more about our Import Contacts feature.
Pro Tip: To import contacts into GivingFuel, each contact must include an email address.
Note: Before opting in phone numbers into SMS communication, make sure that these contacts have consented to receive texts from your organization.
Schedule and Send Your Text Message
Choose when to send your text
Select Send Immediately to send the first text immediately
Select Pick a Date/Time to schedule the text to send on a future date and time
In the Message field, enter the content of your text message. As you type, a sample text message on the right will update in real time to show you a preview
Click Add Variable to add the recipient's first name, last name, or full name to the text message. Click here to learn more about adding variables to your text message
Click Send a Test Message if you would like to a test message to a phone number of your choice
Click Send Campaign or Schedule Campaign
Note: The text message editor has a 320-character limit. This total includes the account name, opt-out language, and any content you enter.
FAQs
How do my donors know the messages are from me?
How do my donors know the messages are from me?
On the first text message you send, our system includes the name of your account at the top of the message as it’s listed in your Organization Details. Here is how to view and update this account name if desired:
From the top menu bar, hover over the Gear icon in the top right corner
Select Organization Details from the dropdown
Click Edit Settings
View or adjust the Company Name as desired
Click Save
Why is my GivingFuel Organization name showing up on the text message?
Why is my GivingFuel Organization name showing up on the text message?
According to the new carrier guidelines, the first message sent to any number must include the sender's name.
GivingFuel will not include this account name in subsequent messages. If you want to update your organization's name, you can do so in the Organization Details. Any future messages will reflect the updated name. Here is how to view and update this account name if desired:
From the top menu bar, hover over the Gear icon in the top right corner
Select Organization Details from the dropdown
Click Edit Settings
View or adjust the Company Name as desired
Click Save
Can I Send a Page Link in my SMS messages? Will this count towards the character limit? Does the text message auto link the page link, or do I need to paste this link in the text message?
Can I Send a Page Link in my SMS messages? Will this count towards the character limit? Does the text message auto link the page link, or do I need to paste this link in the text message?
Yes, you can send a page link in your SMS messages. To send a page link, we recommend pasting your link into the message itself. This link will count towards the character limit on your messages. If you would like to shorten your link, we recommend using a link shortener site to reduce the number of characters.
If a donor has given to multiple donation pages, will they receive multiple text messages if I send a text to multiple GivingFuel pages?
If a donor has given to multiple donation pages, will they receive multiple text messages if I send a text to multiple GivingFuel pages?
Our text messaging feature will only send one text message per phone number. So if someone donates to multiple GivingFuel pages on your account, our system will only send them one message per text you send. It will not send duplicate text messages.
Can I send emoji's in my text message?
Can I send emoji's in my text message?
No, emojis are not supported right now in the text messaging feature.
Is there a limit to how many recipients I can send an SMS Message to?
Is there a limit to how many recipients I can send an SMS Message to?
Yes, SMS Text Message Campaigns can send up to 30,000 recipients per campaign.
Add a Recipient's First Name, Last Name, or Full Name to the Text Message
You can personalize your text messages by dynamically inserting a recipient’s first name, last name, or full name using text message variables. This allows each message to feel more direct and engaging. GivingFuel also gives you the option to add custom fallback text in case a contact does not have a name associated with their phone number so your message reads naturally for all recipients.
When creating your text message, click Add Variable above the message field
Select the variable you want to add to your text message. You can add the first name, last name, or full name to the text
Add fallback (default) text that will appear if the recipient does not have a name associated with their phone number. To do this, enter the text you want to appear inside the quotation marks in the
default: ""field. If left blank (the default setting), nothing will be inserted when a contact does not have a name on file
Pro Tip: You can use the Variable Preview options above the sample message to see how your message will appear. This feature can be used to preview how your text will look when a name variable is added.
Click Sample to preview how the text message appears when a contact has a name. If your message includes a variable, this option inserts a sample name into the text
Click Fallback to preview how the text message appears when no name is available. This uses the default text you added for the variable
Note: The text message editor has a 320-character limit. This limit includes the account name, opt-out language, and any content you manually enter including variables placeholders (such as {{ first_name | default: "" }}). This character count is based on the variable text itself, not the recipient's actual name.
When the message is sent, variables are replaced with real data. Because actual values may be longer or shorter than the placeholder text, the final delivered character count of each message may vary.
Manage Your Text Messages
Note: While a text in the sequence has a status of Scheduled, you can view, copy, edit, send a test and delete the message.
But once a text message is sent, you are no longer able to send a test, make edits or stop it from sending. You can only copy and view the text message. When a text has sent, you can then see how many recipients were sent the message, and what time the text was sent.
Warning: Deleting a text message cannot be undone. So proceed with caution.
Hover over the Text Messaging tab in the top menu bar
Select the Text Message Blasts tab from the dropdown menu
Find the Text Message you would like to manage, and click any of the following icons:
The duplicate icon allows you to copy a previous message to send again
The pencil icon allows you to edit the text
The eye icon allows you to view the text
The phone icon allows you to send a test message to a number of your choice
The trash can icon allows you to delete the text
Pro Tip: You can search for your text in the Search bar or filter your texts by the Page, Status, or Date!
Add Keyword Auto-Responders
Keyword Auto-Responders are a great way to give standardized answers for questions your donors might have about your organization. For example, ask donors to reply with the word “mission” to automatically receive a text message containing your organization’s mission statement.
From the Pages screen, click Text Messaging from the top menu bar
Click Keywords on the left-hand side of the screen
Click Create Keyword
Enter the Keyword that your donors can text in to your number
Enter the Response Message you'd like to auto-send back to the person after they text the keyword
Enter the Hint - If your donors text-in the word help, it will give them a list of the keywords and the associated hint or description of what the keyword will get them
Keyword FAQs
Can I create multiple text message keywords?
Can I create multiple text message keywords?
Yes, you can create multiple SMS text message keywords.
If someone replies to a text message I send, can I reply back?
If someone replies to a text message I send, can I reply back?
Right now, the SMS feature supports one-way broadcast messaging to your donors, along with keyword-based replies. We recommend setting up keyword replies to answer common questions that your donors may have. The ability to reply to text messages in conversation format may be considered for future updates.
If someone texts us without using a keyword, is there a standard message that would be sent to them?
If someone texts us without using a keyword, is there a standard message that would be sent to them?
If a text is sent without code word, the text does not go anywhere, and the donor does not receive a response.
General FAQs
How does a subscriber opt out?
How does a subscriber opt out?
The first text message a donor receives includes instructions to reply with STOP to opt out, following industry standards. When they do so, their number is added to a carrier-managed do-not-send list. If a donor opts out by mistake or wishes to receive messages again, they can reply with the keyword START to resume. When a donor opts out, they opt out of all future messaging from that number, not just that donation page.
Can a donor opt in to receiving text messages after submitting their donation?
Can a donor opt in to receiving text messages after submitting their donation?
Yes, donors can opt in to receive text messages after submitting their donation by logging into the Donor Account Center, and opt in from there. This article walks through how donors can use the Donor Account Center.
Can I see who has opted into text messaging? Will this show any contacts who choose to later opt out through texting STOP?
Can I see who has opted into text messaging? Will this show any contacts who choose to later opt out through texting STOP?
To see who has opted into text messaging, we recommend downloading a Contact export. This report will show which donors opted in upon donating and any donors who opted in to text messaging through the Donor Account Center. If a donor later chooses to opt out through texting STOP, the Contacts import will not update with this information.
From the Pages screen, click the Contacts tab in the top menu bar
Click Download Contacts
What user permissions do I need to send Text Messages?
What user permissions do I need to send Text Messages?
A user must be an Admin to send out text messages. Any account owner and Admin can send Text Messages.