For charities the biggest concern is how they will reach people, inform them of their objectives and encourage donations. Telephone fundraising offers great benefits, both in terms of increasing the amount of people you can reach and making your charity more personal. A phone call is much more likely to develop into support than stopping people in the street or sending materials through the post.
With telephone fundraising you have the chance to develop a personal message and reach out directly to the people you hope will support you. This lets you bring each call recipient into the narrative and make the experience more interactive. By being able to ask questions, gain more information about your charity and your cause you make the appeal more personalised and increase the potential for success. A surprising message rather than simply reporting successes or challenges is more likely to result in support and donations.
When you choose to go ahead with telephone fundraising you need to decide whether to keep the calling in house or outsource it to a professional. There is no right or wrong method and both offer their own unique challenges and benefits. Outsourcing will normally be the most cost effective, especially if you choose an agency like QTS that is already established and successful at reaching audiences. If you do outsource you need to ensure you give call handlers as much information about your organisation and cause as you can so they can pass it on to the people they call.
Raising funds over the phone can add an extra dimension to a campaign and ensure you take advantage of a very useful channel. The best campaigns are multi-channel and use several different techniques to reach people and build support. Telephones offer easy access to a very large market whilst also ensuring that each call is personal and engaging. The channel should be central to any campaign.
A big thing to think about is how you will measure the success of your telephone services. Many organisations will look purely at the conversion rate and how many calls become donations. An alternative method is to consider the boost in knowledge of your organisation and the amount of people who request additional information. The number of people who interact further with you is a good indication of how well you are doing.
