ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

American Cancer Society promotes Relay for Life events via SMS

The American Cancer Society is helping 5,000 Relay for Life events communicate and manage their fundraising efforts via a SMS program.

The American Cancer Society is working with Hipcricket on this initiative, which will equip each Relay for Life event across the United States with its own unique keywords that they can promote locally to get participants to opt-in to the program. The American Cancer Society also plans to roll out an optimized version of its Web site in early 2012.

?Relay for Life events are almost completely volunteer-powered, and because it is a community-based and grassroots-driven, we could do a nationwide program with SMS that was still event-specific,? said Miles Orkin, national director of Web and Mobile at the American Cancer Society, San Francisco.

?Our SMS effort is really about making the Relay experience easier and more fun in a way that people want to be communicated with,? he said. 

Text me in
The American Cancer Society's SMS programs are being promoted locally by individual Relay for Life events with mediums including word of mouth, email, out-of-home displays, social media and print materials.

Relay for Life participants and organizers can text a unique keyword to the short code 22723 to opt-in to the service.

Relay for Life events happen year-round across the U.S., but the bulk of activity happens in early spring and summer.

The American Cancer Society is rolling out the program nation-wide after trying SMS with 250 pilot programs.

Each program?s volunteers and participants can then control the messages and communicate locally with their consumers leading up the event.

The SMS program comes on the heels of the American Cancer Society optimizing its Web sites for mobile users earlier this year (see story).

Once consumers opt-in to the service, they will receive messages when new content is added to the company?s mobile sites.

?The goal of the program is to support the community,? Mr. Orkin said.

?Mobile makes sense for this because it is the type of information that people prefer to get over text messages rather than email,? he said.

Mobile health
By making mobile a priority in its digital strategy, the American Cancer Society is showing that it understands how users access its content.

In particular, SMS is an effective platform to reach consumers while they at events because of its reach.

In general, the American Cancer Society is just starting to tap mobile, but is starting with SMS to build up its database.

?Mobile is a natural fit for events like Relay for Life,? said Eric Harber, chief operating officer at Hipcricket, Kirkland, WA.

?Because the participants are already carrying their mobile devices, it?s a convenient and effective way to communicate,? he said.

Final Take
Miles Orkin, national director of Web and Mobile at the American Cancer Society, San Francisco, at the 2011 Nonprofit Mobile Day