The percentage of donations made via mobile is growing each year. While optimizing your website and marketing emails for mobile is part of the battle, there is a large opportunity in mobile applications for nonprofits.
Some of the benefits that nonprofits see when using mobile apps include:
- reaching the next generation (Generation Y or ‘milliennials’);
- staying connected with and retaining current donors;
- engaging volunteers;
- increasing attendance at events; and
- increasing donations.
And this is only just the beginning.
Many nonprofits are reaping the rewards of charity apps. We searched high and low for the best charity apps are really kicking mobile’s butt. The four that made the cut? American Red Cross, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society, and Kiva. Most of these organizations have multiple charity apps for different stakeholders and different purposes. Let’s dive in and look at the best ways to utilize mobile technology for good.
American Red Cross
Volunteers are a crucial component of any nonprofit. That’s why charity apps that target volunteers are a common use of mobile technology. The Red Cross, an organization with more than 10 mobile applications, has one dedicated specifically to volunteers: “Team Red Cross”. Why does the Red Cross’ volunteer app stand out? Two reasons: in-app training and gamification.
Training can sometimes be a barrier-to-entry for volunteers; meaning interested volunteers are sometimes deterred once they realize they’re under qualified. This is particularly true when the training requirements aren’t clearly outlined, training is difficult to organize, or potential volunteers just don’t have the time. With the Red Cross’ in-app training, they overcome this barrier. Volunteers can quickly become qualified on-the-go by watching videos and reading best practices within the app. Just think: the Red Cross could prepare hundreds of volunteers after only one commute home on the train!
“Team Red Cross” also motivates volunteers to do more with gamification. Gamification is when typical game-like elements are applied to something that’s not usually a game. In the Red Cross’s case, volunteers can collect points for joining volunteer ‘missions’ or completing training. Gamification is proven to engage stakeholders and motivate them towards the rewarded behavior.
Heart and Stroke Foundation
The Heart and Stroke Foundation utilizes charity apps to connect with people in the general population who may be potential volunteers or donors. But more importantly, their charity app is targeted towards reducing the presence of heart disease and stroke in Canadians, part of their core mission.
The app, called “My Heart&Stroke Health”, offers an assessment on current heart health, tips on repairing or maintaining heart health, and trackers on progress. It’s a “virtual trainer, nutritionist and cheerleader wrapped up together”.
This app helps to establish the Heart and Stroke Foundation as knowledgeable in their industry, which as an added benefit, might encourage donors to part with funds at some future time. It also builds awareness and helps keep their charity top of mind by fitting their app into the daily lives of potential donors or volunteers.
Canadian Cancer Society
Charity apps don’t have to be designed for your donors or volunteers. Similar to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society recently launched an application focused more on prevention.
The Canadian Cancer Society’s charity app aims to reduce the presence of smoking, a frequent cause of cancer. The app is called “Break It Off”. It’s all-encompassing for smokers who are looking to quit: the app helps them to overcome old desires, track their progress, see analytics and stats on when and why cravings or slip-ups occur, and of course offers social integration with Facebook.
This app is a perfect example of a charity app with a unique and necessary purpose – one of the most important strategies to follow when creating a successful charity app. An app with a clear purpose is more likely to fit into the daily activities of the intended target, they’re more likely to use it and see benefits from it, and your ultimate goals of creating a charity app are more likely to be reached. In fact, this is often why nonprofits will have multiple different charity apps. The Canadian Cancer Society, for example, has another app called “Relay for Life” which serves a completely different purpose than “Break It Off”.
Relay for Life is a widespread walk-a-thon to raise money for cancer research. The “Relay for Life” app helps fundraisers participating in the event collect donations, track their progress towards their fundraising goal, and even send out (already created!) social messages to spread the word. And donors want this! 95% of peer-to-peer fundraiser participants use a charity app to raise money.
It’s simple, yes. But this simplicity keeps fundraisers focused on their tasks and no doubt helps them to raise more funds for the Canadian Cancer Society … all while on-the-go!
Kiva
Kiva helps empower people around the world with a $25 loan. Donors lend $25 to a person of their choosing from a borrower list and eventually get repaid.
Their charity app, “Kiva”, helps donors through the entire donation process. They can choose a borrower to lend to, donate or ‘lend’ the money through traditional means like PayPal right within the app, and then keep tabs on who donors have helped and borrowers’ status of repayment.
The two greatest attributes of “Kiva” are including the entire process on mobile and showing the result.
Given Kiva’s model and low ‘price point’ of $25, they lend themselves well to multiple donations from donors. By going mobile, Kiva just gave donors many more opportunities to contribute. Whether they’re sitting on the train or waiting at the doctor’s office, they can choose a new borrower and offer another loan immediately.
Plus, the ability for ‘lenders’ to see their impact within the app means they’re more likely to contribute again and again, knowing they’re making a difference.
— These four nonprofits have executed wonderful charity apps. But, they’re large organizations with even larger marketing budgets. So is a charity app still accessible for you? Of course! At iNotForProfit we specialize in charity apps for smaller nonprofits at less than the cost of a latte a day! Contact us today to find out how you can reap the benefits of a charity app too.
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