Pew Internet Research has released survey results indicating that 40% of adult American cell phone owners now use their cell phones to access the internet, email, or instant messaging.
34% (up from 25% in 2009) use their cellphones to access email. With outbound email appeals still the workhorse of online fundraising, I’m wondering what challenges this trend might present.
I tend to think of accessing email via cell phone as a “backstop” when I’m on the run or my computer is unavailable. Not the best time for me to receive or deal with a substantive message like a fundraising appeal. I’d be more inclined to hit “delete” than save.”
Beyond the “not the right time to reach me” resistance is the fact that, if I were open to the fundraising message, I’d want to see it well-presented … graphics, images, even video. Online fundraisers will find it a technical challenge to deliver these “rich” messages to multiple cell phone platforms in the first place, and even if they succeed, surely the micro-screen isn’t the optimum window for viewing them.
But I’m open to the argument that my resistance might be a generational thing. Indeed 52% of 18-29 year-olds use their cell phones to send and receive email, compared to 22% of those 50-64 and 11% of those 65-plus.
And more directly to the point, 19% of those under-30 say they have made charitable donations via text, compared to 8% of those 50-64 and 4% of those 65-plus.
When it comes to mobile donations, clearly I’m not one of the early-adopters in my age cohort!
Tom
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Tom – What is interesting about this conundrum is how few nonprofits actually consider the cell phone view in their appeals. Most do not even spend time thinking about their audience viewing on a cell phone and take no precautions or extra steps to target that audience. Also, viewing an email on the cell phone can be an advantage when a donor is headed home or checking with his family; when he is more inclined to read the entire message rather than checking during work when his/her brain is full of other things. Lastly, a nonprofit that uses email solicitations to target donors should have between solicitation emails that offer updates, ideas, inquiries, ask for advice, and solicit feedback and opinions — so donors should be comfortable with the newsletter long before the actual solicitation comes on the phone.