Peer-to-peer texting is an essential tactic for fundraising, mobilizing voters, increasing support for critical issues, and more. Here’s an overview of what peer-to-peer messaging is, and how nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, and unions can fit peer-to-peer texting into modern digital organizing efforts:
What is peer-to-peer texting?
Peer-to-peer texting is a volunteer-driven outreach effort in which a volunteer connects with potential supporters by sending them direct text messages. When a volunteer sends a peer-to-peer text, recipients can respond to the message and initiate a conversation with the volunteer. This texting strategy is an authentic way for organizations to build their supporter base while ensuring that new supporters feel personally welcomed and informed.
How is peer-to-peer messaging used?
Peer-to-peer texting is a popular tool for campaigns and nonpartisan organizations to get out the vote. Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, organizations like When We All Vote partnered with Impactive to encourage Americans to register to vote. Using Impactive’s Peer-to-Peer Texting feature, volunteers texted 50,000 voters in less than an hour. This was a tremendous effort, especially in an election year where studies found that peer-to-peer texting programs were a powerful way for campaigns to encourage voter turnout.
Advocacy organizations can leverage peer-to-peer texting to gather support for a critical cause or push forward an important piece of legislation by asking volunteers to send texts outlining vital action steps. When volunteers send these texts, they can reach out to contacts who may support a cause but are unaware of ways to take action. Directly reaching out to these contacts can increase an organization’s list of active supporters.
Additionally, electoral campaigns can enjoy peer-to-peer messaging to fundraise effectively. This well-loved texting tactic enables volunteers to engage with donors or help spread the word about an upcoming fundraising event. Facilitating one-on-one conversations by text can garner more support than one mass solicitation email, as 90% of people are likely to open texts, while only 20% of email recipients read emails.
For organizations looking to engage with supporters, peer-to-peer messaging is an essential tool to include in a digital organizing toolkit.
What is Impactive’s Peer-to-Peer Texting tool?
Impactive’s Peer-to-Peer Texting feature allows organizations to manage and implement peer-to-peer messaging efforts efficiently. Especially for organizations leading large volunteer bases, the platform unlocks robust organizing management with a powerful admin dashboard.
Using Impactive, administrators can assign and reassign contacts between volunteers and staff members for texting shifts. They can also craft outbound scripts for volunteers to send initial messages to contacts and response scripts for quick responses. Once volunteers conclude a conversation, they can tag the conversation to report the outcome of a conversation back to the campaign.
Impactive’s Peer-to-Peer Texting tool integrates seamlessly with Impactive’s Friends and Family Messaging tool. While P2P texting relies on contact lists uploaded by the campaign, Friends and Family Messaging allows volunteers to sync their own contacts to the platform using campaign messaging. Volunteers can engage supporters using both features and encourage interested individuals to opt in to receive broadcast messages from their organization.
Administrators can also use Impactive's Teams and Leaderboards feature when sending peer-to-peer texts to motivate volunteers to engage with potential supporters. Volunteers can participate in friendly competition by forming teams and winning points for completed actions, like sending texts.
Peer-to-peer messaging is a dynamic method of organizing that impact-focused organizations of any size can leverage. In an increasingly automated world, sending personalized peer-to-peer texts is a compelling way to build new relationships with potential supporters.
