Colorectal Cancer Alliance boosts mobile opt-ins and walk participation with a targeted texting strategy

Results for the DC ScopeItOut event, year over year*:

*Based on 2025 to 2026 data provided by the Colorectal Cancer Alliance

Reaching fundraisers beyond their inboxes

Colorectal Cancer Alliance hosts walk events nationwide, including its flagship DC ScopeItOut, Walk to End Colon Cancer in cities such as Tampa, Denver, Philadelphia, and Detroit, and End Colon Cancer Coast to Coast.

Before starting a targeted texting strategy, the team identified three opportunities to strengthen its peer-to-peer program:

• Get participants to register earlier and invite others to join.
• Keep participants more actively engaged in the lead-up to an event.
• Help participants make fuller use of the fundraising tools available to them.

Pairing GoFundMe Pro with a year-round texting strategy

Colorectal Cancer Alliance uses GoFundMe Pro’s fundraising events technology, giving fundraisers a page to register, build teams, and raise funds for each event. At registration, participants can opt in to receive text messages. That opt-in gives the Alliance a direct line to the same engaged audience, made possible through its partnership with momoGood, a mobile messaging and fundraising platform.

Together, Colorectal Cancer Alliance and momoGood built a texting strategy that included both SMS and MMS messages. In its first year, they sent two recruitment messages, three coaching-style engagement messages tailored for team captains and individual fundraisers, and one logistics message ahead of event day.

Texting is one piece of a broader mix for Colorectal Cancer Alliance. Prospective fundraisers are nurtured starting 15 to 16 weeks before an event, across email, paid ads, organic social media, and direct outreach from regional leads, as well as billboards in some markets.

Scaling what works, one walk at a time

In year two, Colorectal Cancer Alliance expanded recruitment from two messages to five and added a final push to past participants who hadn’t yet registered. The team also introduced short video recaps to give new fundraisers a feel for event day. That cadence now follows fundraisers through every stage of the event journey:

• Recruitment messages: sent 1 to 2 months out, inviting past participants and local allies to register.
• Engagement messages: sent in the weeks after registration, rallying team captains and encouraging fundraisers to reach their goals.
• Logistics messages: sent a few days before the event, with details like parking, timing, and what to bring.
• Thank-you message: sent post-event, with a quick survey about the experience.

The expanded cadence and video recaps paid off for the DC ScopeItOut event: mobile opt-ins grew 27% year over year, participation grew 6%, and the event now sends nine messages total, up from six in year one.

A year-round conversation, not just an ask

Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s texting strategy goes beyond an event or a finish line. The team is planning to run A/B tests to sharpen message performance and is building a recruitment journey for past team captains, many of whom return year after year to lead their teams again. The goal: keep fundraisers connected.

Results reflect Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s campaign strategy and may vary for other organizations.