Here, we'll take a look at the ways in which new shortcodes can benefit you.
What Is a Shortcode?
Firstly, let's take it back to basics and remind ourselves what a shortcode is. When setting up a new Text Giving campaign with Donr, you'll be asked a series of questions – the first of which is to choose your keyword and shortcode.
When a supporter decides to donate, the keyword is the word that they'll need to text in (e.g. WATER), and the shortcode is the number that they need to send this text to (e.g. 70085).
Why Offer More Shortcodes?
When creating a new campaign, each keyword-shortcode combination is totally unique and belongs exclusively to the charity that registers this combination.
Previously, if your desired keyword wasn't available to register on one shortcode number, you could try to register it on one of our 5 other shortcode numbers.
But now, we've added two new shortcodes – taking our total to 8 shortcode options – meaning that there is a much better chance of being able to register a strong text keyword that is the perfect fit for your next campaign!
How This Can Benefit You
So now we've covered the why, let's now look at the how – and the scenarios where these new shortcodes could benefit you.
1. Planning ahead for dates in the diary
When you register a new keyword with Donr, this text campaign will belong to your account indefinitely. So, there's certainly no harm in taking a look ahead in your fundraising calendar and registering keywords that you'll require at a later date.
For instance, a national awareness week might be coming up in the summer, where the perfect keyword would be the cause itself – e.g. you might wish to register "GARDEN" or "WILDLIFE" ahead of the upcoming Garden Wildlife Week in June.
Further to this, it might be that your biggest campaign of the year launches at Christmas. If your festive fundraising has a similar theme each year, you might already know what keyword would be best to register. So, why not register it now, to ensure it's ready for you to use later this year?
2. Planning ahead for events
Another way planning ahead might overlap with your Text Giving plans is when it comes to events.
Perhaps your charity has supporters hoping to take part in half-marathons or other sponsored activities later this year? If so, there will likely be relevant keywords that you'd like to ensure in order to form a simple fundraising CTA, perfect for the setting of an event.
Text CTAs work well on social media in the lead up to, and on the day of, a fundraising event taking place. See our related case study on the Katie Piper Foundation here.
3. Registering previously unavailable keywords
It could be that you've previously tried to register the perfect keyword for your charity, cause or brand that just wasn't available until now – unsurprisingly, popular keywords such as "LOVE" and "DOG" go quite quickly!
Now, you have the chance to go back and reserve these keywords on either 70560 or 70580. So what are you waiting for
You can register your next Text Giving keyword through the Donr Dashboard.