Over 40 million people use WhatsApp in the UK, with its lack of a cost and ease of use, it has become quickly and widely adopted across society. For many it’s now their their principal tool for for digital communication. It is for me, just looking at my own phone I can see groups for family, old school friends, university pals, my son’s rugby club and a casual football match that I never play in. But it’s not all sharing news, images and decades old jokes, increasingly businesses and workplaces are using it too. And yes, can charities too!

As charities of all sizes look for new ways to connect with their communities and diversify how they fundraise, WhatsApp is become an increasingly useful tool. With open rates of 90-95%, significantly more than even the most popular email you'll send, using WhatsApp can ensure your messages are seen. 

Here are four ways that WhatsApp can become a part of your communications strategy:

1. Urgent appeals and breaking news.

There are often matters are time sensitive – some you know are coming, like a funding deadline, others can be unexpected, such as an emergency or funding shortfall – if you need to get your appeal seen and fast, then WhatsApp can help. Emails and social media are the usual tools for getting out quick messages, but they can get lost on a busy timeline or a cluttered inbox. Most of us don’t have a stack of unread WhatsApp messages. But only use this when its real urgent, to maintain it’s impact.

2. Campaign updates.

This kind of message is a great way of keeping donors (or potential donors) up to date on campaigns (“We are halfway there with four weeks to go”), showing momentum and energy and improving your chances of hitting those targets.

3. Event reminders.

If you have activities, in-person fundraisers or webinars, WhatsApp is great for sending invites, reminders and follow-ups. It’s also good for sharing surveys and post-event feedback forms

4. Thank-you messages.

We know how important saying thank you is. WhatsApp can be used as a way of stating your appreciation directly. How about a message from a recipient? Or a voice note from the project lead? Personalised messages can make a really big impact.

While WhatsApp is widely used in personal communications, with it sitting on around 75% of UK adult’s phones, only a small number of charities are using it to connect with their community.

By learning more about this platform, you gain a chance to be an early adopter of WhatsApp, a tool that can deliver more conversational and real communications, than email or social media. It’s not a replacement for these tools, especially if you are using a paid WhatsApp package, where messages can cost up to 5-10p to send through their Channels program. A regular (non-paid for) group can have a maximum of 1024 members within it.

It's definitely a tool worth considering, with its opportunity for strong engagement levels and rapid sharing, it can really deliver fantastic results. So take a look today!