Hannah Campbell, Director of Marketing & Communications for the LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation (TAF), knew she needed a new way to contact donors—one that they would actually read and respond to. Mass emails were getting ignored and didn’t feel personal enough for important relationship management.

“We use email a lot, but we know those messages aren’t read the way they used to be. They’ll read the first couple of lines, look at the graphic, and then be done,” she says.

With inboxes brimming—and email feeling less and less personal by the day—how can an athletic foundation cut through the noise and effectively communicate with hundreds or thousands of donors at once?

Higher Engagement with Text Messages Marketing 

Research shows that 95% of text messages are read within the first 5 minutes, and 75% of individuals would rather text with an organization than call. Texts are seen as both important and personal—so they’re read right away.

SMS marketing is the mass communication tactic of choice when you need to get attention and a response.

“Texting is a more intimate way of connecting with our donors. It’s still through a platform and you’re not face-to-face, but it’s personal enough. Someone is more likely to answer a text or open a text than they would an email,” says Campbell. 

Campbell follows the 80% rule. 

“If we send out a text to 10,000 people, we’re going to get an 80% response back and then 80% of those will reach out to our department about making a donation to support our LSU student-athletes. We’ve seen a good return when we use it.”

Every response helps TAF create strong connections with their donors. 

“Some responses become lead gens for us to have a major gift officer or our annual giving officer make a call. Or we’ve had several people tell us they can’t make a donation this year but to keep them on the list for next year.

“The engagement we get is incredible. We know we’re going to get a response, and I think that’s the biggest thing.”

The Best SMS Marketing Platform for Campaigns

Campbell knew that people responded best to texting—and prefer it! Her communication plans are extensive and highly organized, and she didn’t want to send a random text here or there. 

“At other institutions, I’d used other platforms. Those were fine if I wanted to send a one-off text to someone. But in terms of mass texting, they didn’t have those capabilities. I wanted a mass texting platform that fed into Salesforce, that was quick, and that allowed me to build out campaigns for highly segmented groups.”

Stacked Messenger provides exactly what her team needs.

“With Stacked Messenger, sending out a large segment of 1,000 messages might take 2 minutes to send. It’s personalized but also quick.”

And, of course, she couldn’t be happier with the engagement she’s getting on her campaigns. This year her team saw a 10% increase in interactions for their March 31 ticket renewal campaign. 

The Easiest Texting Service to Manage

Campbell has been impressed with how easy Stacked Messenger is to manage—both for herself and for interns on her team.

“The platform is very easy to learn and straightforward. If you’ve ever worked a social media page, managing that is a lot harder than this platform. If you can do that, you can do this!”

And, of course, the Stacked Messenger team will be with you every step of the way. 

“Our representative is a past student-athlete, so he understands our work. He helps us group and segment lists the way we need to segment, get set up for each campaign, and uploads all of our lists for us. He walks us through every single step, which is awesome, and I know who to call if there’s an issue.”

TAF’s Secret Weapon

Giving thousands of donors and fans that personalized communication they crave—and respond to—isn’t an easy job. But Stacked Messenger can make it feel like it is.

“Stacked has made it super easy for us to engage with our customers—our donors—and it has enhanced our customer and donor experience. It makes everyone feel important in the best way.

“It’s an awesome platform. It does exactly what we need it to do. It’s our secret weapon.”

CTA: For more information on how Stacked Messenger can help you enhance your donor experience, schedule a demo today.