WhatsApp for NGO fundraising: consent, content and what not to send

An NGO can fundraise on WhatsApp if people have agreed to hear from it, and if each message either reports something real or makes one clear request. The channel is personal. A donor who gets an unexpected appeal at ten at night, with a forwarded video and a bank account number, will remember the NGO's name for the wrong reason. Build a list of people who said yes, send little, and let them leave easily.

Where does consent come from?

Consent is a record, not a feeling. If a donor asks "how did you get my number?", you should be able to answer. Good sources:

• A tick box on your donation page or form, in plain words: "I am happy to receive updates from the trust on WhatsApp."
• A QR code at a camp or event that opens a chat with a pre-filled "Yes, send me updates".
• A volunteer who asks in person and writes the donor's yes in the register on the spot.

Poor sources are easy to list. A phone book exported from a trustee's handset. A list bought from someone. Numbers copied out of a group you were added to. Donors who gave a number only for the receipt. Rules about personal data differ and change, so check with your own adviser, and read our page on marketing data, consent and compliance for the practical outline.

What should the first message say?

When someone opts in, answer within the chat. Say who you are, what they will get, roughly how often, and how to leave. For example, from an invented animal-rescue trust: "Thank you for joining the Pune Street Paws updates. You will get news from our rescue van and, now and then, a request for help. Reply STOP any time and we will remove you." That one message sets the terms for everything after it, so keep it short and sign it with a name.

For example: a scholarship fund in Bhilwara

Imagine a fund run by retired teachers that pays school fees for about forty children. Over the years it has collected 900 numbers: fee-receipt books, the visitors' register at the annual prize day, and parents who rang to ask whether a child qualified. The treasurer wants to broadcast an appeal for next year's fees.

Look at where those numbers came from. The parents rang for help, not to be fundraised from. The visitors signed a register. Nobody ever said yes to WhatsApp. A first broadcast to all 900 would bring a few gifts and a handful of angry replies, and some blocked numbers.

So the fund sends each number one question, "Would you like updates from us on WhatsApp? Reply YES", and moves only the yeses to a new list, tagged by source. Say 300 people answer yes. The appeal goes to those 300, and the replies are warm: some of the gifts are small and some donors ask for a receipt. The other 600 hear nothing further, and some of them might have given. That is the cost of asking first. The counts are invented, and the trade is the one to weigh: a smaller list that asked to be there against a larger one that did not.

What to send and what to leave out

Decide the job of each message before you write it.

The last row matters. A wrong claim about tax benefits or approvals can cost more trust than saying nothing. Our post on presenting registrations without overclaiming covers the wording.

A decision rule for each appeal

Before you press send, ask three questions. Has everyone on this list agreed to hear from us? Does this message tell them something they do not already know, or ask for something they can do in one step? Would I be happy for this exact text to be screenshotted and posted? If any answer is no, hold it.

The rule also helps when a trustee wants to push a late appeal after a news story. It gives you a reason to say not tonight.

Groups, communities and volunteers

A group suits people who already work together, such as volunteers coordinating a distribution day. It does not suit donors. Members see each other's numbers, and one noisy member can turn the group into a place for forwards. If you want a donor community, keep it as a broadcast list or a channel where only admins post. Community marketing can be done well on WhatsApp, but it needs one person who owns the rules, removes spam and answers questions.

Skip WhatsApp fundraising if you have nobody who can reply in reasonable time. A donor who writes back and hears nothing has been taught that the chat is one-way. A phone call from a trustee, or a plain email, serves better until you have the people for it.

When a donor is upset

Sooner or later someone writes back angry. Reply once, by a person, within the day if you can: "I am sorry. I have removed your number and you will not hear from us again. If you ever want updates, just write to us." Do not argue, explain how you got the number or send a last appeal. Then mark the register the same hour. A donor who is treated well may still give by another route, such as the website or a camp.

Keeping a clean list

Keep a register with number, name, date and source of consent, and a column for opt-out. Remove anyone who writes STOP the same day, and never re-add them from an old file. When you finish a campaign, delete test numbers and anyone who never answered the consent question.

Start with one task this week: write the consent question and the first reply message, and send them to your ten closest supporters before anyone else. If you want a hand with the opt-in flow and the wording, that sits with WhatsApp marketing and automation, and other work for NGOs is under non-profit. When you are ready, tell us what you need.