Political and Nonprofit
Stay on the Cutting Edge: Take Advantage of SMS Opportunities Now
SMS marketing is taking the country by storm, and it has already found its way into the most cutting-edge political campaigns. For example, in 2008 Obama bought the shortcode 62262 (which spells out his name) and urged his constituents to text in to "join the movement." Subscribers would receive anything from notices of public appearances, to important campaign updates, to requests for opinions. Perhaps one of the biggest draws was the promise to announce who the Democratic vice presidential pick would be over these text updates. On the night Obama announced that he had chosen Joe Biden, an estimated 2.9 million subscribers received his text message. And Obama wasn't the first to do it. Before him, Hillary Clinton encouraged her constituents to text "JOIN" to 77007 for updates and news, as well as messages and photos personalized by area. And a year before her, Edwards also started experimenting with SMS. It's getting bigger every year, so don't be left out.
Here are some suggestions for what else you can do with SMS:
- Text Surveys, which are less intrusive than voice surveys because they can be responded to at any time. For example, you can poll constituents as to whether they have registered to vote yet.
- Registration reminders, customized by state, letting constituents know when deadlines are.
- Absentee ballot information, customized by state, reminding constituents to request absentee ballots if needed, and when those must be submitted by.
- Event invitations to any local campaign events -- personalized by area code.
- Important announcements, like vice presidential choices.
- Fun messages and photos to communicate with your constituents on a personal level.
- Down-ballot promotions to encourage constituents to vote for other candidates you support.
- Perhaps most importantly: election day reminders.
Text-to-Donate: Nonprofits, Sign Up for the Beta
With the devastation in Japan, you've surely heard the calls to text a word to a certain short code (such as "text REDCROSS to 90999") to donate to the cause by charging a small amount to your phone bill. To date, over $2 million has been raised via this single mobile-giving campaign. And when disaster had struck in Haiti, Red Cross raised over $32 million via their mobile giving program.
At CallFire, we're always looking at ways to add value for our customers. If you are a nonprofit and you're interested in a text-to-give program, please click here and someone will contact you about participating in our exclusive beta program as we get it rolling.
Send a Voice Broadcast to Thousands of People to Increase Awareness
Need to get out your message to thousands of people quickly? Just record a message and upload your phone list, schedule a time & date for your message to go out, and CallFire will place the calls for you at 50 calls-per-minute (increased speeds available by request). Your message will be heard by all the recipients on your list, informing them about your cause. Voice Broadcasting also allows you to directly connect with your audience through a Press-1 transfer option.
- Introduce-the-candidate calls
- Reminder calls for important events
- Followup calls and Press-1 direct transfer campaigns
- Donation solicitations (depending on state, nonprofits and political groups may have to obtain opt-in consent, so please seek legal advice)
- Supports phone surveys and polls through addition of IVR
Create Navigable GOTV or Fundraising Messages, Surveys, and Auto Attendants with Hosted IVR
The CallFire IVR Designer allows you to create custom phone trees as simple or as advanced as you want. Just record your messages (or choose the text-to-speech option) and use our drag-and-drop interface to build anything from get-out-the-vote learning menus, to automated inbound or outbound polls & surveys.
- Custom GOTV reminders
- Navigable candidate introductions: for example, "Press 1 to hear my stance on healthcare, press 2 to hear my stance on education, press 3 to speak to a member of my staff directly."
- Navigable donation solicitations: for example, "Press 1 to hear more about what we do, press 2 to hear about how we allocate funds, press 3 to donate now."
- Comprehensive telephone surveys and polls: for example "Press 1 if you have registered to vote and 2 if you haven't... press 3 if you plan to vote in this election and 4 if you do not... press 5 if you have heard of this candidate and 6 if you haven't..."
- Complex auto attendants to route inbound calls to relevant information or representatives
Make Your and Volunteers' Jobs Easier with Cloud Call Center
Need to contact hundreds of people directly? CallFire allows volunteers to phone bank 20-30% more efficiently than by hand dialing. Simply upload your contacts, and in minutes, CallFire's Power Dialer will connect your sales agents to live leads. CallFire can call up to 4 phone lines per agent and will leave answering machine messages so your agents don't have to. CallFire saves time by weeding out busy signals, bad phone numbers, and handling answering machines. Keeping it simple for your voluneteers will result in their continuing to donate their time, and it will help recruit new volunteers too.
- Increase volunteer efficiency by 20-30%
- Solicit donations more quickly and easily (nonprofits and political groups are likely to not have to obtain opt-in consent, but please seek legal advice)
- Organize outcomes and notes for contacted people
- Stop wasting time on answering machines by leaving pre-recorded messages (with your voice)
- Communicate quickly with large groups
Buy Toll-Free and Local Numbers to Track Advertising Efficiency
Have more than one source of advertising for your cause? Stop wondering which ads and people drive phone calls to your hotline. Buy one, or thousands of unique phone numbers that you can place in display ads, landing pages, billboards, print advertisements, and radio or TV messages. CallFire will forward, track, and record all of your calls, allowing you to visualize what's driving the most phone calls.
- Buy local and toll-free numbers for your cause
- Funnel all your numbers to desired lines
- Track and record all your calls to optimize ROI