SMS Fundraising for Nonprofits, Food Banks & Charities

Coming from Remind or GroupMe? GroupMe began retiring SMS mode in August 2026, one recipient at a time on a seven-day countdown, and Remind's help centre says sending SMS through Remind Chat requires a verified member of a verified K-12 educational institution in the United States. Either way, the families who were reading the group as plain text messages stop receiving it that way. Switching from GroupMe · Switching from Remind

Sign-up sheets are free. Text alerts and giving are the paid plan.

Causly does two jobs for a nonprofit, a charity, a food bank, or an advocacy group.

The first is free and needs no card: volunteer sign-up sheets. Post Saturday's sort, the gala setup, the phone bank or the delivery route, and share one link. A volunteer opens the page, takes a shift, and leaves a name, email and mobile number — no account, nothing to install. Each sign-up gets an email confirmation with a cancel link, up to a daily limit. You get a coordinator hub with live counts, the full roster, a CSV export and a print-out for the check-in table.

The second is the paid plan: text alerts, reminders, and giving straight from a message.

Where it earns its keep

Shift sheets, all season. The weekly sort, the holiday distribution, the gala, the giving-day phone bank. Unlimited sheets, unlimited slots.
A slot can have its own text list. A sign-up on a slot joins that slot's list, so Saturday's crew and Sunday's crew stay separate.
Year-end and giving-day appeals. Send the ask, then a closing-hour reminder. Supporters give right from the text.
Rapid-response asks. When a food bank's shelves empty, a text is faster than the next newsletter.
Advocacy alerts. A bill is up for a vote tomorrow. Send the action link and watch the tap count.
Event and gala promotion. Ticket links, table sales, and the night-of reminder.

How joining a text list works

A supporter texts a word like GIVE or JOIN to the Causly number, and we text back once asking them to reply YES. That reply is what subscribes them — no form, no app. A number that signs up on a sheet works the same way: it gets that one text and nothing else until it replies. Run separate keywords for donors, volunteers, and advocates so you can speak to each group differently. Any message can be stopped with a reply, and a stop is not limited to one keyword or even to one organization: we record it against every entry that number has anywhere on Causly.

Every dollar you raise stays yours

When supporters give from a Causly text, the funds go straight to your organization's own Stripe account. Causly does not take a cut of what you raise. Every link is shortened and click-tracked, so your development team can see how many taps each link got, and the payment ledger records every gift by name and amount.

Built for lean teams

Schedule sends in your timezone. Line up your giving-day messages in advance and let them go out in your organization's own timezone, so no one is glued to a screen at midnight.
Invite your team by email. Your development director, your volunteer coordinator, your communications lead — add them all. Members work under the organization's plan, so the work isn't bottlenecked on one login.

Causly works for nonprofits and community organizations anywhere in the United States. See the towns we have already written local pages for on our locations page.

How it works

Create a sign-up sheet, publish it, and share the link. That part is free.
On the paid plan, pick a keyword and put it on your site, emails, and event signage.
Supporters text it in and reply YES to confirm.
Segment donors, volunteers, and advocates into separate lists.
Schedule your appeal, attach a donation link, and send.

Ready to turn your next appeal into gifts? Get started with Causly.