How Nonprofits Can Turn Conversations Into Campaigns with RCS Messaging

If you’ve ever sent out a mass text to donors or volunteers, you know how it goes. Half the messages get buried, and only a few people click your link.

RCS, short for Rich Communication Services, changes that. It’s like upgrading from a plain text to a mini website right inside your supporter’s messaging app. Instead of a few lines of text, your message can include:

• Verified branding so recipients instantly know it’s coming from your organization, not a random number.
• Visual storytelling with images, carousels, and videos that make your mission come alive.
• Clickable buttons that let supporters take action instantly, whether that’s donating, signing up, or sharing.

In other words, RCS messaging helps nonprofits stand out, and it builds trust while doing it.

For mission-driven organizations, that can make all the difference. It means more volunteers showing up, more donations coming through, and more supporters staying connected to your cause.

How can nonprofits use RCS campaigns?

Nonprofits are already using RCS to reimagine their outreach campaigns, not by doing more, but by communicating smarter. Here are a few examples:

• Fundraising drives: Send an RCS message with a carousel of donation tiers (“$25 feeds a family,” “$100 supports a week of services”) and one-tap “Give Now” buttons.
• Volunteer recruitment: Share available shifts or roles with visuals and a quick “Join Us” button that connects directly to your signup form.
• Event promotion: Send event details, RSVP options, and even location links in a single, branded message.
• Awareness campaigns: Use short videos, photos, or quotes from your community to remind supporters what their involvement makes possible.

It’s all about creating a message that doesn’t just inform, and RCS allows you to show the impact of your mission.

Want to see how RCS campaigns could work for your nonprofit?

We’ll walk you through how Clerk Chat’s campaigns and RCS for Business can help you reach more supporters.

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What does setting up a campaign look like?

With Clerk Chat, setting up a campaign is guided and intuitive:

1. Go to Campaigns from the sidebar.
2. Click New.
3. Clerk Chat AI walks you through the setup.
4. Choose your contact list or create a new one.
5. Write your message or attach a prebuilt RCS template (complete with carousels, images, and CTA buttons).
6. Send it immediately or schedule it for later.

The AI guidance makes it easy to focus on your message, not the mechanics. That means your team can spend less time formatting and more time connecting with supporters.

What should nonprofits do after sending a campaign?

Once your campaign goes out, the real value comes from what happens next.

RCS is designed to drive higher engagement than standard SMS. Richer visuals, clearer actions, and verified branding naturally lead to more opens, more taps, and more meaningful interactions. But to understand what’s resonating with your community, you’ll want to review your results.

That’s where Clerk Chat’s Campaign Analytics comes in.

From the sidebar, click Analytics, then select Campaigns. You’ll see a quick overview of each campaign, including its name, the number it was sent from, and a status update. But the deeper insights come when you click into a specific campaign.

Inside each report, you’ll find:

• Total delivered - how many supporters successfully received the message.
• Total read - a powerful indicator of how engaging your RCS content was at first glance.
• Total interactions - every tap on a button or link, shown as both a number and a percentage.
• Opt-outs - helping you understand if your messaging frequency or content needs adjusting.

And if your message included multiple action buttons, for example “Donate Now” and “Learn More.” Clerk Chat breaks down exactly how many clicks each one received. This tells you what your audience is most interested in and which calls to action drive the strongest response.

For nonprofits, these insights are more than just metrics. They help you:

• Identify which stories or visuals inspire action
• Spot opportunities to test new message formats
• Refine future campaigns based on real supporter behavior
• Understand what resonates with donors vs. volunteers vs. new subscribers

Think of analytics as the feedback loop that makes every campaign better than the last. RCS gives nonprofits the ability to send richer, clearer, more compelling messages, and Clerk Chat’s analytics help you turn that engagement into smarter, more impactful outreach.

Why RCS is the right channel for mission-driven organizations

For nonprofits, communication is more than a message. It’s the lifeline between your team and your community.

RCS helps strengthen that connection with:

• Trust: Messages come from verified senders, reinforcing your organization’s credibility.
• Engagement: Visual content and interactive buttons encourage real-time action.
• Personalization: Messages can be tailored to donors, volunteers, or partners.
• Continuity: Every response stays in one conversation thread.

When your outreach feels more human and less transactional, your supporters respond in kind. RCS helps you do that at scale.

Ready to connect your mission with your messaging?

Whether you’re rallying volunteers, promoting an event, or launching a fundraising campaign, RCS messaging gives your organization a richer, more trusted way to connect.

👉 Visit our nonprofit industry page to see how Clerk Chat helps nonprofits create, send, and measure smarter campaigns, all from the same place they manage everyday conversations.