What happened to text-to-donate?

Swell's text-to-donate feature was retired on December 31, 2021. To learn why keep reading below.

Text-to-donate services rely on shared shortcodes (example: 474747) which are authorized by the mobile carriers (AT&T, Sprint, Verizon etc). In 2018, the mobile carriers started to issue guidance against the use of shared shortcodes and a dialogue around a permanent transition to dedicated 10-digit numbers or dedicated shortcodes began.

Virtually ALL nonprofits (including Swell clients with text-to-donate turned on) are using shared shortcodes. This is because a dedicated shortcode is prohibitively expensive for most nonprofits.

The reason for the end to shared shortcodes is to reduce fraud and donor error. If a donor inadvertently types the wrong word or the phone auto-corrects it, their donation could go somewhere they didn't intend.