Of Course We Have a Mobile Strategy (Don't We?)

You all know that one of my favorite things to talk about is the experience we are serving up for our donors, volunteers, members, advocates, etc. So, it will not surprise anyone when I say we've got to think through the "mobile experience." It's not just about getting things rendered on a smaller screen — it's much bigger than that. And it's certainly not just an IT decision — it's one the marketers and fundraisers need to be thinking through very clearly (not to mention quickly).

Lately, there have been some great stats about online giving. The Chronicle of Philanthropy shared with the industry these findings from two studies.

• Online donations rose 14 percent in 2012 to $2.1 billion, according to a study of 115,000 nonprofits.
• Web contributions to the nation's biggest charities also grew 14 percent to $785 million, according to a study of 149 large nonprofits.
• Online giving saw far greater growth than the overall rise in donations in 2012 (which Giving USA reported at 3.5 percent).
• Nearly three quarters of the groups surveyed say their goal is for online donations to account for more than 10 percent of their overall fundraising efforts in the next few years. Twenty percent of nonprofits expect Internet gifts to account for as much as 20 percent of their overall donations in the next few years.

So, we all know that online engagement is here to sta. But when you look at figures like those above, what does it mean when Forrester Research anticipates mobile commerce will exceed $31 billion by 2016? And by 2020 there will be 10 billion-plus devices in the pockets and palms of consumers?

What that tells me is that we need to get busy because, like it or not, the mobile experience is going to play a role in successful fundraising and marketing plans. But how does one think outside of just website and basic text-to-give?