Don’t be afraid of telephone outreach A necessity in the successful fundraiser’s toolbox

During this session we’ll discuss…

•  Why telephone outreach gets a bad rap

•  The best use of telephone outreach

•  What to look for in a potential telephone outreach vendor

•  Tomé’s top telephone tips

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The best telephone call I ever received…

•  6 PM / weekday

•  The caller was positive, passionate, and genuine

•  The script was succinct

•  The ask was compelling

•  They needed my help to fix X, Y, and Z

•  Time was of the essence, could I help now?

•  The caller tried to up-sell me

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•  Within the hour, I received a follow-up email from the charity thanking me for my gift and providing opportunities for me to learn more about the campaign (or donate again)

•  I received a tax receipt for my gift in one week

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The best telephone call I ever received…

Why is telephone outreach hated?

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Contributing factors

Terrible caller

Poor audience selection

Bad timing Lack of preparation

Fear

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Secret to success

The secret formula to telefundraising success is…

30% Caller

+

30% Offer

+

30% Audience

+

10% Script

(Creative)

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Measuring success

Success metrics

•  Contact rate

• Completed calls (regardless of outcome) answered by a human or machine divided by the total number of calls

•  Response rate

• Number of gifts (paid and pledged) divided by the number of completed calls

•  Average gift

• Gross revenue (paid and pledged) divided by the number of gifts

•  Return on investment

• Net revenue divided by total cost

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The case for telephone outreach

The best use of telephone outreach

•  Stewardship

•  Welcome to our family!

•  Thank you for donating, volunteering, signing up for our newsletter, et cetera

•  Tell us how we can improve

•  Sharing information (good or bad) •  Soliciting donations in an emergency situation or for urgent

needs

•  Lapsed donor reactivation

•  “We haven’t heard from you in a while… Can we share with you…”

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The best use of telephone outreach

•  Monthly gift conversion

•  Contact donors who demonstrate frequent giving behaviour. Sell your monthly giving program

•  Upgrading

•  Contact existing monthly donors and ask if they would consider an additional $X/month to help with the rising costs of program delivery

•  Multi-channel support

•  The true “pre-call,” consider calling your top 100 donors prior to them receiving your direct mail. Tell them to be on the look out for an important letter from the Executive Director of the Mission

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For your consideration… Telephone outreach

It’s an effective way to engage donors

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Donors can relate to a voice Stewardship calls make donors feel valued

Real time interactions can uncover valuable information

For your consideration… Telephone outreach

It’s a great way to convert single gift donors to your monthly giving program…

• If done properly, telephone outreach can be your organization’s most effective tool to inspire support for and commitment to your monthly giving program

It’s a versatile channel

• When we mail or email donors, it’s impossible to change our ask, but a skilled caller can hear various cues during conversations with donors and adapt accordingly

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Outsourcing advice

When looking for a telephone outreach vendor

•  Ask other local charities or charities in your vertical who they’ve used in the past

•  Ask the vendor to provide audio file examples of calls made on behalf of charities. Evaluate the quality of the calls

•  Ask for an experienced agent to lead your campaign. The agent should have a minimum two years of fundraising experience

• Better agent = better results

• Ask the vendor about agent turnover. If the average agent tenure is less than 9 months, politely end the conversation and keep looking…

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When looking for a telephone outreach vendor

•  Ask the vendor if you can assist with the training of agents

• Offer a tour of office or bring stories to the agents. If the vendor or its agents aren’t interested, look elsewhere. Your organization needs a vendor who:

• Will value the life-changing and life-saving work you do every day

• Will hold your donors in the highest regard – treating them with respect and care

•  Ensure the vendor executes an internal testing phase. Strong vendors work out the kinks of a script before the first donor is called

•  Compatible data format

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Tips to improve your in-house telephone outreach

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Tomé’s top telephone tips

1.  Invest the time, effort, and resources necessary to find the best caller(s)

•  If it’s a volunteer, great!

•  If it’s paid staff – don’t worry, they could raise 10x their salary!

2.  The delivery of a script is more important than the script itself

•  Enthusiasm, passion, integrity, emotion, belief

•  The caller has less than three seconds to make a positive impression

3.  Have donors’ information on screen. Be prepared!

4.  Think of telephone outreach as an invitation to join your organization – not to beg for money

5.  Don’t be afraid

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Thank you! Philip Tomé, Account Director Russ Reid

ptome@russreid.com | 416-970-5975