To help endangered frog species, the nonprofit Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute created a mobile giving campaign via text messaging. That’s just one mobile strategy for nonprofits. Douglas Plank, CEO of mobile solutions provider MobileCause, gives real-world examples of other successful mobile strategies:
-
Front-of-Mind Communication: The Monterey Bay Aquarium turned its popular guide to seafood eating into a mobile applica- tion called Seafood Watch, and to date has enjoyed more than 480,000 downloads, enabling the nonprofit to remain front and center with its supporters.
-
Information Gathering: The American Cancer Society rolled out a mobile application featuring “virtual candles” that recipients can actually blow out (at least on iPhones). The app pulls information from recipients’ Facebook pages and encourages activism and support of ACS activities to lengthen life.
- Activism: Incensed at former Sen. Alan Simpson equating Social Security with a “milk cow,” AARP sent a text message to 44,000 members alerting them to Simpson’s statement and urging them to call in and leave a heartfelt message of their own. In just the first 24 hours AARP had nearly 1,000 personal voice messages from supporters delivered directly to the voicemail boxes of their congressional lawmakers.
PR News subscribers can read more about Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's mobile PR efforts in the case study: "Working Without a Cuteness Factor, Smithsonian Turns to Fun, Froggy Tactics in Amphibian Conservation Efforts.