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Does anyone out there text their constituents to remind them of upcoming events, campaigns, etc. We're wondering what others are doing. Of course we would see this as totally an opt-in thing. What does everyone think? Would this be a nuisance or a benefit???
__________________ Hillary Murphy
Financial Administrator
Phoebe Foundation www.supportphoebe.org
As an private person (not a development person) I would hate it. You don't know if people have free texting on their plans. I don't and it would cost me money. I know you wanted to know what people thought of it professionally, but I just had to chime in as someone who might be on the receiveing side.
Just my opinion.
__________________ Nina T. Williams The Cleveland Institute of Art Making Art Work
I'm with Nina...I would hate it! I would think that if a person had accepted an invitation to an event, they would put their own reminders in place, not rely on a text from the planner. I'd be curious to see how many you actually have "opt-in" though!
__________________ Barbara A. Schlichter Technical Project Coordinator Burlington, MA www.lahey.org
I think this might be a personal thing because I might love it (depending on the organization that did it).
I don't think you would be sending out reminders to those who responded - I think you would be sending it to those who haven't yet and give them a link to the site where they can sign up. I would prefer it to a paper invitation where I have to find a stamp to return the reply card (I don't pay any bills by snail mail any more).
I agree that it would have to be an opt in thing and I think it would work best in places where there is a natural lifetime affinity like a School - I would love to get my reunion reminder by text message.
There would probably have to be a limit to the number of texts you send because even an opt in persn might get irritated at a point. So maybe the opt in allows them to select type and frequency of messages but it might be interesting to try.
This would also work better for a younger demographic.
On 3/19/08, Melissa Siobhan <> wrote:
> I think this might be a personal thing because I might love it (depending on
> the organization that did it).
>
> I don't think you would be sending out reminders to those who responded - I
> think you would be sending it to those who haven't yet and give them a link
> to the site where they can sign up. I would prefer it to a paper invitation
> where I have to find a stamp to return the reply card (I don't pay any bills
> by snail mail any more).
>
> I agree that it would have to be an opt in thing and I think it would work
> best in places where there is a natural lifetime affinity like a School - I
> would love to get my reunion reminder by text message.
>
> There would probably have to be a limit to the number of texts you send
> because even an opt in persn might get irritated at a point. So maybe the
> opt in allows them to select type and frequency of messages but it might be
> interesting to try.
>
>
--
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__________________ Peter Gulka
Chief Bus Driver
Blackbaud User Society www.blackbus.org
I love the idea of receiving text messages from an organization I support. (For the record, I fall in a young demographic range.)
Like Hillary originally said, it absolutely must be opt-in only. I think it should be made easy to opt out again or suspend messages temporarily, and I'm with Melissa Graves on having options about frequency and type of messages.
People who are likely to subscribe in the first place are likely to also subscribe to other text broadcasts, and are probably accustomed to message options and easy opt-outs.
. . . To answer the original question, no, I don't believe the UA Foundation currently does anything of the kind. The University broadcasts text messages to subscribed students, staff, and parents, but only in the event of an emergency--not quite like reminding someone that they haven't responded to their golf tournament invitation.
__________________ Melissa Haferkamp
Matching Gifts Coordinator
University of Arizona Foundation
haferkamp [at] al [dot] arizona [dot] edu
Does anyone text their constituents 
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