Key Findings

• Among the organizations that participated in this study, over 80 percent of text subscribers were recruited via an online program. However, some organizations – especially those with a strong presence at events (notably concerts) or with a television advertising budget – can generate a sizeable number of recruits through these "offline" channels.
• Text messaging lists grew at an annual rate of 49.5 percent. This rate is quite high, in large part because many partner organizations are building their text lists by drawing from existing supporters.
• The annual churn rate for text lists was 30.7 percent. The benchmark text message unsubscribe rate was 0.69 percent. Unsubscribe rates varied somewhat by messaging type, with fundraising solicitations seeing the highest unsubscribe rate of 0.92 percent.
• The response rate for call-in advocacy text messages (text messages urging a supporter to make a call to a decision-maker on behalf of the organization) was 4.7 percent – is nearly six times the 2009 benchmark response rate of 0.82 for call-in advocacy emails.¹ This rate is impressive, and indicative of the power of text messaging to generate an immediate response.

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1. eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, M+R Strategic Services and Nonprofit Technology Network, 2009.