The Tactic We All Love To Hate
Sometimes the world of raising charitable funds can be frustratingly counter-intuitive. Nothing proves this point more than the ever-present role of telefundraising in Canada today.
Stop and think about it. When was the last time you heard a colleague, a friend or a family member say something positive about raising funds by phone? Of all the fundraising tactics and methods I know, certainly none generate as much irritation, anger and frustration as the old ‘call at suppertime.’
Let’s stop and think about this together for a minute. Surely, we can figure it out.
Telemarketing has a bad rep
In my opinion, telemarketing in the charitable sector has built such a terrible reputation for a few important reasons:
Charities call strangers. In our opinion – and our experience – the phone is rarely (if ever) an appropriate tool for donor acquisition campaigns.
Telemarketing scriptwriters insist on leading off the call with the old and very insincere“how are you tonight?” The caller often launches into the pitch before listening for an answer. You can call me old fashioned, but that’s rude, isn’t it?
Many (and I’d say most) telemarketing companies seem to fundamentally misunderstand the medium – as ridiculous as that sounds. The telephone is a tool for conversation. That means two-way communication. What drives us nuts about telemarketing is that most of it is too one-way. Initiates at seminary school are often taught that ‘we have two ears but only one mouth.’ Those pushy people on the phone should take heed of this sage advice.
And – related to the point I’ve just outlined – too many telemarketers are (and are obviously trained to be) simply unwilling to recognize the word ‘NO.’ I’ve been exposed to phone training rubrics where the phoner is not to accept the word NO until the third time it’s said. How ridiculous is that?
The phone as a tool for good
I’m a fundraising consultant – an (alleged) expert in my field. Despite all my harsh criticism, there’s no question in my mind that the phone has an important role to play in philanthropic marketing today. My colleagues and I are dedicated to helping clients build deeper human connections with their donors. And despite its sometimes awful rep, the phone can be a powerful tool in doing just that.
My FLA colleagues and I research the who, what, when, where, and why of charitable giving all the time. It’s abundantly clear to us that annual giving is now a three-channel stream of mail, phone, and online giving (in that order). Choosing not to use the phone because you just don’t like it leaves a lot of money on the table.
To start with, the call is going to go much more smoothly when the caller explains WHY she’s calling ME. For example, “Leah, we’re calling you because you’ve been a monthly donor to Save the Pussycats for ten years now – and we want to tell you about an important new campaign that’s just getting started.”
The smart charity will take advantage of the conversation to ask me a few questions. This both makes me feel like my opinion matters – and it gives the charity more knowledge about who I am and what I want and expect from them. Even simple customer-service type questions work well here.
The smart charity will let me choose how to hear from them and how to get in touch with them. If I ask to get a package in the mail instead of talking on the phone – or to look at the information on the web site – let me! I’m driving this bus – not the stranger who’s just taken me from homework time with my 9-year old.
Maximize revenue and minimize complaints
This month, I have four specific tips for you:
Look carefully when choosing your phoning agency. Make sure they have a ‘conversational culture’ when it comes to their customer/donor contact programs. Avoid those agencies that push the ‘stick to the script’ approach.
At FLA, we only select phoning agencies which will let us – and our clients – listen in to live phoning any time. We strongly encourage our clients to spend a good deal of time listening to the conversations they have initiated.
Use the phone strategically. Target phoning for specific reasons to specific donor segments. For example, we love the phone to welcome new donors, to convert single-gift donors to monthly gifts, to reactivate lapsed donors and sometimes to sift for the best legacy gift prospects. We have NEVER recommended that a client use the phone for donor acquisition.
Never, ever, hire a telemarketing agency that charges on a percentage of revenue raised basis, takes any ownership whatsoever of donor information, guarantees break-even results (if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is) or insists on a long-term, multi-year contract.
Jose van Herpt is a member of FLA Group, a consulting firm that works with Canadian charities to engage donors at a truly human level and build donor loyalty and commitment. FLA welcomes your ideas, comments and criticisms about this tip.
“This copywright article originally appeared in Canadian Fundraising & Philanthropy, www.canadianfundraiser.com, and is reproduced with permission.”