Why Mobile Matters: The Stats

There is no debating that the mobile channel is encompassing nearly all aspects of life these days. However, fundraisers still aren't raising anywhere close to as many funds via mobile as they do in some of the more traditional channels — i.e., direct mail, telemarketing and even online donations. But that doesn't mean fundraisers can ignore the channel or even delay their efforts in the mobile space.

On Leap Day, I hopped on an early-morning train down to Washington, D.C., to attend the 2012 Nonprofit Mobile Day prior to the Washington Nonprofit Conference. And in the opening keynote, David Balcom, managing director of digital platforms at the American Cancer Society, laid out why mobile matters.

For starters, he said that the mobile Web is now the primary channel for mass market media consumption and that society — your donors and supporters — are already mobilized.

Balcom also provided the following statistics about mobile:

• There are almost as many mobile subscribers as there are people in the United States.
• Mobile devices are rarely beyond four feet from the people who own them.
• Hundreds of millions of people communicate via mobile on a daily basis.
• The market continues to grow like crazy.

As you can see, donors are adopting mobile at a rapid pace and becoming accustomed to using the channel to shop, communicate … and increasingly, to donate. Fundraisers everywhere know the importance of meeting donors and supporters where they are, when they're there, and more and more, that place is the mobile landscape.

Even if text-to-donate is not right for you organization, the mobile Web is. Donors are starting to expect the same experiences from nonprofits that they receive in the commercial space, making it vital to get on the mobile bandwagon.

That doesn't mean abandoning the other channels, especially the workhorses that bring in the big bucks. It does mean, however, that if you want to sustain your organization for the long haul and cultivate a new generation of givers, you cannot afford to ignore mobile any longer.