Tatango for Nonprofits: SMS Fundraising Platform
Tatango is America's #1 SMS fundraising platform built exclusively for nonprofits, with over $650 million raised and 10 billion messages sent since 2007. Its AI-powered segmentation and personalized donation links help development teams run high-converting text campaigns without technical expertise, reaching donors where they actually are: on their phones.
What It Does
Struggling to reach donors through email alone? With inbox open rates hovering around 20% for most nonprofits, text messages cut through the noise in a way no other channel can. SMS messages are opened by 99% of recipients, with 90% reading them within three minutes. Tatango is a platform built entirely around this reality, designed specifically for nonprofit fundraising rather than repurposed from general marketing software.
At its core, Tatango enables development teams to send mass personalized text messages to their entire subscriber list, manage two-way conversations with donors, automate follow-up sequences, and track which messages drive donations. Where it separates from general SMS tools is depth: native integrations with the CRMs nonprofits already use (Salesforce, Blackbaud, Virtuous), AI-driven subscriber scoring that replaces manual list management, and PowerLinks that pre-fill donation forms with known donor information to remove the friction that kills conversion rates.
The platform has been operating since 2007, giving it nearly two decades of fundraising-specific data and experience that generic SMS providers simply cannot replicate. Organizations using Tatango report that SMS fundraising accounts for up to 20% of their total donations, often with a 500% return on investment.
Best For
Organization Size
Mid-to-large nonprofits with established donor lists (1,000+ contacts) and existing fundraising programs looking to add a mobile channel. The Fast Start plan at $199/month is accessible to smaller organizations with growing lists.
Use Cases
- Year-end and emergency fundraising campaigns
- Donor re-engagement for lapsed supporters
- Event reminders and volunteer coordination
- Monthly giving program communication
Ideal Roles
- Development Directors
- Major Gifts Officers
- Communications Managers
- Digital Fundraising Coordinators
Key Features for Nonprofits
PowerLinks: Frictionless Giving
Dynamic donation URLs that automatically pre-populate form fields with known donor data. A supporter taps a link in a text and arrives at a donation page already filled with their name, address, and suggested gift amount based on their giving history. Fewer steps between text and completed donation means measurably higher conversion rates.
Power Segments: AI Donor Scoring
AI automatically classifies every subscriber into one of six engagement tiers (Champions, Highly Engaged, Passive, At-Risk, Inactive, iOS At-Risk) based on reply behavior, click patterns, donation history, and opt-out risk. Scores update continuously, eliminating hours of manual list segmentation every campaign cycle.
Mass Send at Scale
Send 100,000+ messages in approximately 40 seconds and up to 6 million messages per hour. When a major news event creates a fundraising moment or a matching gift challenge goes live, Tatango ensures your message reaches your entire list within minutes, not hours. Supports SMS, MMS (with images and media), and RCS (rich communication services).
Tatango Inbox: Two-Way Conversations
A centralized hub for managing individual donor replies with AI sentiment analysis and smart reply suggestions. When donors respond to a fundraising text with questions, concerns, or personal stories, staff can respond authentically with AI-assisted suggestions, keeping the conversation personal without being overwhelmed by volume.
Built-In Compliance Management
TCPA opt-in and opt-out management is handled automatically, protecting your organization from regulatory risk. The platform is SOC 2 Type 2 certified and HIPAA compliant, making it appropriate for healthcare nonprofits and social services organizations handling sensitive constituent data.
AI Message Composer
Drafts fundraising messages that are compliant, on-brand, and optimized for mobile. The AI editor provides real-time suggestions while composing campaigns, helping staff write effective appeals that stay within character limits and include trackable links automatically. A/B split testing lets you test different messages with portions of your list before full deployment.
How Tatango Uses AI
Tatango describes its AI foundation as "Agentic RAG" (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), which is a technical way of saying the AI continuously pulls from your organization's data to improve its recommendations. Here is what is actually AI-powered versus what is standard automation.
What's Actually AI-Powered
Power Segments Behavioral Scoring
Machine learning analyzes each subscriber's reply sentiment, link click history, donation patterns, and opt-out risk signals to assign and continuously update engagement tier scores. No rules to write, no lists to maintain manually.
AI Message Composer
Generative AI drafts fundraising messages trained on nonprofit fundraising patterns. Suggests subject matter, call-to-action language, and message length optimized for SMS character limits and conversion.
Smart Replies in Tatango Inbox
Sentiment analysis reads incoming donor replies and suggests contextually appropriate responses, helping a small staff manage thousands of individual conversations during a major campaign.
iOS 26 At-Risk Detection
AI identifies subscribers at risk of being filtered by Apple's new message screening in iOS 26, allowing you to re-engage these contacts before they become unreachable.
What's Standard Automation (Not AI)
- Welcome series and drip campaigns (rule-based scheduling, not predictive)
- TCPA opt-in and opt-out management (compliance automation, not AI-driven)
- PowerLinks personalization (dynamic data insertion, not machine learning)
- CRM sync and contact management (database integration, not AI)
Data Requirements for AI to Work
Power Segments works best with at least several months of subscriber engagement data. New organizations or those migrating from another platform will see generic segmentation initially. The AI refines its scoring as it accumulates data on how your specific donors behave, so results improve significantly after three to six months of active use.
Real-World Nonprofit Use Case
Consider a regional food bank launching its annual Hunger Action Month campaign in September. Their email list has 15,000 contacts but open rates have plateaued at 18%. The development team adds Tatango, migrating their mobile-consented donors to an SMS list of 4,200 subscribers.
Power Segments immediately identifies 800 subscribers as Champions (frequent openers, link clickers, previous SMS donors) and 600 as At-Risk (no engagement in 90 days). The team sends Champions a major donor appeal with a PowerLink pointing to a pre-filled $250 gift form. At-Risk subscribers receive a softer reactivation message asking them to share a photo of how food insecurity affects their community.
The campaign runs across five days. Champion donors convert at 14% on the PowerLink (compared to a 4% conversion on the same appeal sent by email). The reactivation series recovers 180 lapsed donors. Total: $47,000 raised from the SMS channel alone, from a list that would have gone uncontacted without Tatango.
Pricing
Fast Start
Getting started with SMS
$199/month
- 2,000 messaging credits/month
- Quick start templates
- Setup within 20 days
- Email and chat support
Mid-Market
Active campaign programs
Custom pricing
- Higher monthly credit volumes
- Full AI feature access
- Dedicated account support
- CRM integrations included
Enterprise
High-volume organizations
Custom pricing
- Unlimited message volume
- White-glove onboarding (60 days)
- Fundraising coaching included
- Phone, email, chat, Zoom support
Messaging credits: 1 credit = 1 SMS segment; 3 credits = 1 MMS message. Credits are consumed per send, so a 2,000-credit plan supports approximately 2,000 SMS sends or 660 MMS sends per month. Pricing information is subject to change. Verify current pricing directly with Tatango.
Nonprofit Discount: 60% Off Shortcode Costs
Tatango offers a 60% discount on shortcode costs (the dedicated phone numbers used for mass SMS campaigns) for qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofits. This represents significant annual savings for organizations that need dedicated shortcodes.
Discounted Shortcode Pricing
$1,000/month
$400/month
$500/month
$200/month
Eligibility Requirements
- Must be a registered 501(c)(3) organization
- BBB Wise Giving Alliance accreditation (current report on file) OR
- Charity Navigator 3 or 4-star rating
The accreditation requirement excludes newer or smaller nonprofits that haven't yet achieved BBB or Charity Navigator recognition. If you don't qualify, contact Tatango to discuss options.
How to Access the Discount
- 1. Contact Tatango at 1-888-517-6345 or via their website contact form
- 2. Confirm your 501(c)(3) status and BBB or Charity Navigator accreditation
- 3. Tatango applies the 60% discount to your shortcode fees
Learning Curve
Time to First Send
Fast Start customers are set up within 20 days. Most organizations can send their first campaign within a few hours of having account access. The message builder uses templates and AI suggestions that guide non-technical staff through the process.
Technical Requirements
No coding required. Comfort with basic email marketing concepts helps, but is not required. The most technically demanding aspect is the initial CRM integration setup, which Tatango support assists with during onboarding.
Support Available
Phone, email, chat, and Zoom support. Fundraising coaching is included on Enterprise plans. Multiple users report being able to learn the basic platform in 5-10 minutes. The Fast Start plan includes setup assistance and pre-built templates.
Quick Win: Your First Tatango Campaign
- 1. Export your mobile-consented donor contacts from your CRM (with opt-in documentation)
- 2. Import the list into Tatango and let Power Segments run initial scoring (24-48 hours)
- 3. Select a 100-200 person test segment from your Champion tier
- 4. Send a single appeal with a PowerLink and compare response rate to your last email campaign
- 5. Review the Data Studio analytics to see open rates, click rates, and donation attribution
Integration & Compatibility
Native CRM Integrations
- Salesforce (including Nonprofit Cloud)
- Blackbaud (Luminate Online, Raiser's Edge NXT, TeamRaiser)
- Virtuous CRM
- EveryAction / NGP VAN
- Engaging Networks
- HubSpot, ActiveCampaign
Fundraising Platform Integrations
- Fundraise Up
- GoFundMe Pro (Mightycause)
- Bloomerang: no native integration (use CSV or Zapier)
- Little Green Light: no native integration (use CSV)
Platform & Data Portability
Platform
- Web-based (browser access)
- SOC 2 Type 2 certified
- HIPAA compliant
Data
- CSV contact import and export
- Campaign performance analytics export
- Tatango Data Studio reporting hub
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Built for fundraising: Unlike general SMS platforms, every feature is designed around the nonprofit donation workflow
- Exceptional deliverability: 6M+ messages per hour capacity with 99% open rates typical for SMS
- PowerLinks remove friction: Pre-filled donation forms measurably improve conversion over generic donation page links
- Strong CRM integrations: Native connections to Salesforce, Blackbaud, and Virtuous reduce manual data management
- Compliance built in: TCPA management, SOC 2, and HIPAA certification protect your organization
- 18+ years of experience: More fundraising-specific data and institutional knowledge than any competitor
Cons
- Non-transparent pricing: Most tiers require a sales demo to get pricing; hard to budget without a conversation
- Fast Start credit limits: 2,000 credits/month is limiting for organizations with active lists over 2,000 contacts
- Shortcode discount eligibility: Requires BBB or Charity Navigator accreditation, excluding smaller or newer nonprofits
- No Bloomerang integration: A widely-used nonprofit CRM with no native Tatango connector
- 15-minute scheduling intervals: Campaign scheduling is locked to 15-minute windows, which some users find limiting
- Not for informational SMS: Designed specifically for fundraising; simpler and cheaper options exist for appointment reminders, program updates, and volunteer coordination
Alternatives to Consider
If Tatango doesn't feel like the right fit, consider these alternatives:
Rally Corp
Mobile-first fundraising platform with a pay-per-conversion model and AI Campaign Builder. Good for organizations that want to align costs with results rather than paying a flat monthly fee. Best for: Campaign-based fundraising where you want cost to scale with success.
EZ Texting
General-purpose SMS platform starting at $25/month with AI-assisted messaging, A/B testing, and dedicated nonprofit landing pages. More affordable for smaller organizations, but lacks Tatango's fundraising-specific features and CRM depth. Best for: Small nonprofits primarily sending informational texts, volunteer updates, and event reminders rather than high-volume fundraising campaigns.
Twilio
Twilio is a communications API platform for organizations with technical staff who want to build custom SMS workflows. Costs as low as $0.0079/message with no monthly platform fee, but requires developer resources to implement. Best for: Tech-savvy nonprofits that want maximum flexibility and control at the lowest per-message cost.
Why choose Tatango instead: purpose-built for fundraising, deeper AI segmentation, stronger integrations with major nonprofit CRMs, and the largest database of nonprofit-specific SMS fundraising expertise of any platform on the market.
Getting Started
Request a Demo and Verify Nonprofit Eligibility
Contact Tatango to request a product demo tailored to nonprofits. Ask about your eligibility for the 60% shortcode discount during this conversation, and confirm which CRM integration applies to your organization. Tatango's team can advise on the right plan based on your list size and campaign frequency.
Audit Your Mobile-Consented Contact List
Before migrating contacts, confirm you have proper SMS opt-in documentation for each subscriber. TCPA requires explicit consent for marketing texts, and importing contacts without proof of opt-in creates legal and deliverability risk. Your CRM or donation platform should have this data if you've been collecting mobile numbers through compliant forms.
Connect Your CRM and Configure PowerLinks
Work with Tatango support to establish your CRM integration and set up PowerLinks pointing to your donation platform. This step ensures subscriber data stays synchronized and that your donation links automatically pre-fill donor information. Most integrations are completed within the 20-day Fast Start setup window.
Launch a Small Test Campaign Using Power Segments
Once Power Segments has run initial scoring (24-48 hours after import), send your first campaign to a high-engagement segment of 100-300 subscribers. Use the AI Message Composer for drafting and include a PowerLink. Compare your conversion rate to your email channel baseline to validate SMS ROI before scaling.
Need Help Getting Started with Tatango?
Setting up a new SMS fundraising channel involves list auditing, CRM integration, compliance verification, and campaign strategy. If you'd like guidance navigating the process, One Hundred Nights offers implementation support tailored to nonprofit teams.
Contact Us to Learn MoreFrequently Asked Questions
Is Tatango free for nonprofits?
Tatango is not free, but it offers a 60% discount on shortcode costs for qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofits. A vanity shortcode drops from $1,000/month to $400/month, saving $7,200 per year. To qualify, nonprofits must hold BBB Wise Giving Alliance accreditation or a 3-4 star Charity Navigator rating. The platform subscription starts at $199/month for the Fast Start plan, with custom pricing for higher volumes.
How much has Tatango raised for nonprofits?
Tatango reports that $650 million has been raised through its platform since the company was founded in 2007. The platform has sent over 10 billion messages and reached 75 million donors. Clients report an average 500% return on investment from SMS fundraising campaigns run through Tatango.
What is a PowerLink in Tatango?
PowerLinks are personalized, dynamic donation URLs that automatically pre-populate donation form fields with known donor data such as name, address, and past giving amounts. This removes friction from the giving process, since donors tap a link and arrive at a form already filled in with their information. PowerLinks are one of Tatango's most effective conversion tools, reducing the number of steps between a text message and a completed donation.
What is Tatango Power Segments?
Power Segments is Tatango's AI-driven subscriber scoring system that automatically classifies every contact into one of six engagement tiers: Champions, Highly Engaged, Passive Constituents, At-Risk, Inactive, and iOS 26 At-Risk. The AI continuously updates scores based on reply sentiment, link clicks, donations, and opt-out behavior. This allows nonprofits to target campaigns precisely without manually building and maintaining contact lists.
Which nonprofit CRMs does Tatango integrate with?
Tatango integrates natively with Salesforce (including Nonprofit Cloud), Blackbaud (Luminate Online, Raiser's Edge NXT, TeamRaiser), Fundraise Up, GoFundMe Pro (Mightycause), EveryAction/NGP VAN, Virtuous CRM, Engaging Networks, HubSpot, and ActiveCampaign. Note that Bloomerang does not have a native Tatango integration; Bloomerang users would need CSV imports or Zapier middleware.
Is Tatango HIPAA compliant?
Yes. Tatango is SOC 2 Type 1 and Type 2 certified and HIPAA compliant. This makes it suitable for healthcare nonprofits, social services organizations, and any nonprofit handling sensitive constituent data. The platform also manages TCPA opt-in and opt-out compliance automatically, which is critical for organizations sending mass text messages under U.S. communications law.
How does Tatango compare to Rally Corp and EZ Texting for nonprofits?
Tatango is the most established and fundraising-specific of the three. Rally Corp focuses on mobile-first fundraising with a pay-per-conversion model, making it good for campaigns where you want to align cost with results. EZ Texting starts at $25/month and is more general-purpose with AI-assisted messaging, better for smaller organizations or those primarily sending informational texts rather than running fundraising campaigns. Tatango commands higher pricing but offers the deepest integration with major nonprofit CRMs and the most sophisticated AI segmentation.