Telefundraising Reimagined: The Ultimate Guide + Top Tips
Senior Consultant Kel Haney, Donorly’s outbound fundraising expert, contributed this article. To learn more about Kel’s work, reach out to Donorly or connect with Kel via her website.
What do you picture when you hear the word “telefundraising?”
Personally, when I hear “telefundraising,” I imagine a dark, secluded room behind a closed door in some office building basement. The rest of the nonprofit staff doesn’t know (or want to know) what goes on behind that door. And inside, amidst landline phones with coiled cords and dusty stacks of paper, a few overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated individuals are slumped in office chairs, making scripted cold call after scripted cold call with little success.
Sounds unpleasant and unsavory, right? (Not to mention, ineffective.)
But what if I told you telefundraising doesn’t have to be this way? What if, instead of dusty, dark call rooms, you could gather energetic, collaborative, and passionate fundraisers in an inviting, warm, and accessible place, where the focus isn’t on securing donations, but rather on building relationships with community members? In other words, what if we could take the “ick” out of “the ask” when it comes to telefundraising?
This is what I believe is possible with telefundraising (though I prefer the term outbound fundraising—more on this below). And in this guide, I invite you to reimagine with me what telefundraising can be and how your organization can use it. Here’s what we’ll cover:
If your organization is ready for a new approach to relationship and community building, as well as better fundraising, telefundraising is the strategy for you. Let’s begin!
3 Telefundraising Myths Dispelled
There are a number of age-old misconceptions out there about telefundraising. These long-held-to myths scare organizations away from an effective fundraising method that can be a great way to connect with your community members. Let’s dispel some of these myths and course-correct how we conceptualize telefundraising. Doing so will empower you to approach your own organization’s telefundraising journey with confidence.
Myth #1: Supporters hate getting calls from nonprofits.
Not true.
People don’t like getting calls from pushy telemarketers or spammers who insist your car warranty is out of date. But getting a call from a nonprofit whose mission resonates with you can be a great experience, one where you get to chat about something you love and discover new ways to support a mission you’re passionate about.
Let’s look at a side-by-side comparison of two scenarios to better understand this:
Scenario 1: Person A gets a call from a telemarketer selling diet pills. Using pushy language (“Believe me, you want these game-changing pills”) and guilt trips (“I have a sales goal I have to meet by the end of the day, come on!”), a telemarketer like this is easy for Person A to hang up on. They’ll likely block the telemarketer’s number, too, in order to avoid similar calls in the future.
Scenario 2: An audience member gets a call from a local theatre organization whose work they admire. The person on the other end of the line is friendly warm (“Hi, Terry! My name is Cynthia—I’m an actor who’s also a staff member at Steadfast Theatre Company. I think you recently joined us for our production of Into the Woods. I’m curious about what you thought of the show and what brought you to Steadfast Theatre Company in the first place?”)
This starts a conversation about the organization’s current operations (“I’m excited to share that we’re currently gearing up for our summer Plays in the Park series and that we’re getting ready to launch some new improv workshops.”), which gets the audience member excited for upcoming programming. Next, the fundraiser asks for a donation (“Would you be willing to contribute $100 today to our ongoing fundraising campaign that will benefit our summer programming?”), and whether or not the audience member chooses to give, the call ends on a positive note with a commitment to reach out again in the future (“Thank you so much for speaking with me today, Terry. We can’t wait to see you at Plays in the Park this summer. And we’ll be back in touch in the fall to see what you thought of the shows and hopefully get you involved with our year-end campaign.”).
Scenario 1 and Scenario 2 are examples of two wildly different phone call experiences. So our main takeaway here is that community members don’t hate getting calls from nonprofits. But they will likely be put off by a pushy, demanding call from your nonprofit. (We’ll talk about ways you can improve your calls below.)
And sure, there are some donors who may prefer a different method of communication other than a phone call—such as a personalized email, social media message, or letter in the mail. You might already have information about your donors’ preferred communications methods in your CRM. And if not, don’t hesitate to start asking—try sending a survey! This means some community members may be more comfortable with calls right off the bat, and some will be new to the experience. It’s your organization’s job to make sure that experience is a positive one!
Myth #2: Nonprofits should outsource telefundraising work to call centers.
Consider this myth busted.
Why not keep the entire operation in-house?
Doing so will allow you to:
Hire and train individuals who believe in your cause, build relationships with community members, and seek donations
Set up your call room to collaborate with the rest of your organization and be part of your staff
Establish telefundraising as the connective tissue between other forms of communication
Make the working experience for your callers (fundraisers) a positive, uplifting, and equitable one
It’s important that you have someone in senior leadership on your team who has experience with outbound fundraising (telefundraising). Ask your staff; you may be surprised to learn that your Director of Development made fundraising calls for her university in college or that your Director of Individual Giving has extensive experience making fundraising calls for political campaigns. If you don’t have a senior leadership team member with this experience, you can hire a fundraising consultant. A consultant can help you strategize to meet your campaign goals, hire and train your fundraisers, and offer ongoing support.
Myth #3: Telefundraising doesn’t get results.
Wrong!
I’ve personally seen the powerful effect of telefundraising. Earlier in my career, I worked as a telefundraiser to support myself as an artist. I spent 10,000+ hours on the phone raising $6+ million dollars in gifts under $2,000 dollars for one of my favorite theatre companies in New York City.
In my work with Donorly, we’ve had tremendous success in creating, maintaining, and supporting outbound fundraising call rooms for our clients. Through these phone calls, we’ve raised up to 50% of our client’s annual giving revenue, and the average ROI exceeds 250%.
In other words, I’ve seen how telefundraising can help organizations bring in funding in multiple ways. That might mean telefundraisers are securing donations in the moment or even laying the foundation for future giving by making a community member feel seen and appreciated by the organization.
Of course, getting great results is strongly correlated with having an excellent telefundraising strategy. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how your nonprofit should approach telefundraising in order to be successful.
Getting Started: Who You Need for Effective Telefundraising
Having the right people on your side is critical for telefundraising success. Especially if you’re new to telefundraising, you’ll want to handpick your fundraisers with deliberation. Almost anyone can become a skilled fundraiser, though you’ll want to look for team members who are able to lead with curiosity, empathy, and vulnerability in their work. Here are the specific roles you’ll need to fill:
Call Room Manager: The call room manager should be a member (or members) of your core development team. This individual should be able to put in 10-12 hours/week maintaining and leading the call room. Your fundraising consultant may be able to offer a member of their team to do this work.
Callers/Fundraisers: These are the individuals who will actually be working the phones or video communications apps. They might be current staff members, or you may need to create a job description and start hiring. Regardless, these individuals should typically possess the “gift of gab,” but they should also have a passion for your organization’s cause. In other words, your nonprofit’s work should be something they love to champion and talk about! These individuals may have a background in sales or customer service, though it’s not necessary. But what is absolutely necessary? Not being afraid to talk on the phone with strangers!
Senior Leadership: Someone on your senior leadership team who is an expert in telefundraising can help you design your telefundraising campaign strategy, assist you in hiring and training your fundraisers, and provide ongoing support for the duration of the campaign. If you don’t have someone with this expertise on your team, you can hire a consultant.
In your efforts to reimagine telefundraising, you should also be reimagining the employee experience in the call room. There’s no need for the call room manager, for example, to run the operation like Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross (“Coffee is for closers!”). Instead, your call room should be a place of collaboration, compassion, and mutual support, where the call room manager takes the time to get to know the fundraisers, identify their strengths, and help them do their best work.
Be prepared to treat your fundraisers like the staff members they are. Invite them to your organization’s events, meetings, and trainings—anything that will give them an insider scoop that can make them feel like part of your team (and give them a fresh perspective to use in their work).
My 4-Step Method: Understanding the Arc of the Telefundraising Phone Call
You might think the next logical step in preparing to fundraise over the phone is to create a script each of your fundraisers can use.
In the spirit of reimagining telefundraising, let me invite you to move away from scripted conversations. Why? Because without a script, your fundraisers will be able to have more organic, authentic conversations with each potential donor.
In order to get comfortable with the idea of working without a script, you’ll need to understand the arc of a telefundraising phone call. I’m a visual thinker, so I like to imagine four “poles” holding up the “tent” of the conversation:
1. The First 15 Seconds
This is the most important part of the call in which you will establish a rapport with the potential donor. You will immediately establish who you are, your connection to the nonprofit, the potential donor’s connection to the nonprofit, and the reason for the call. Maybe that reason is to provide an update on the nonprofit’s progress with a campaign or to encourage the potential donor to attend an upcoming event. Here’s an example:
“Hey Angela! This is Cheryl Jones, and I’m on staff at the Snowy Owl Conservation Corps. I’m touching base because I know you’ve been involved in our work in the past (thank you for that donation back in December–your support means a lot to us). We wanted to give you an update on what’s going on right now and hopefully get you more involved. But, first and foremost, I’m so curious to know how you heard about Snowy Owl Conservation Corps in the first place?”
It may be helpful for you to “script” this part of the call just a bit, to encourage a strong start.
2. The Main Event
This tent pole strengthens the potential donor's connection to the nonprofit. Share what’s going on with the organization. You can also invite the potential donor to engage in other ways than donating, like by attending an event or reading a new blog post on the nonprofit website. And then it’s time to get into the specifics of the fundraiser. Here’s an example:
“You know, we have a great new blog post about snowy owl habitats on our website right now—you should check it out. And in terms of our current fundraiser, we’re trying to raise $50,000 by the time our fiscal year ends on June 30, and we have $20,000 to go.”
If possible, it’s great to craft a challenge grant. If fundraisers can connect donors who are giving large gifts with donors who are offering small gifts, that’s a really great way to bridge the gap and help make the fundraising space more equitable. So, being able to say something like, “We have a major donor who is matching all gifts this week up to $1,000, totaling $15,000” can jumpstart that connection.
3. The Ask
Next comes the actual ask. During this part of the call, you should “shoot for the moon” with a specific, intentional, numerical donation ask. Here’s what this might look like:
“Angela, last year, you helped us out with our snowy owl conservation efforts by giving a donation of $4,000. I am going to shoot for the moon and ask if you can donate $5,000 this year!”
Next is arguably the hardest part. Sit with the silence on the other end of the line. Even though this might feel a little uncomfortable at first, it gives the potential donor breathing room. It also reinforces that you’re coming from a place that is open-ended and curious instead of a place where you’re putting someone on the spot.
4. The Wrap Up
For this final tent pole, you will confirm all necessary donation information and establish the next point of contact. But don’t forget to celebrate! Here’s an example:
“This is wonderful! Thank you so much for this gift. You’re bringing us this much closer to our goal! I just need to confirm some information with you. [Confirm the details—the donor’s address, phone number, email address, and how they want to give their gift. Then launch back into the conversation.] Well, Angela, thank you again! We’ll check in with you at the end of the year and see how everything’s going and see if you’ve been able to check out more information on our work or come to one of our events.”
Outside of these four “tent poles", you should be prepared to go with the natural flow of the conversation. If you and a potential donor end up traveling down a “tributary” in your conversation, that’s something to be embraced! You’ll likely learn something interesting about each other, feel more comfortable with the conversation, and genuinely enjoy the interaction!
There are two main takeaways from this four-step method that I want to highlight.
First, in this world of reimagined telefundraising, the calls are not just about the donations. They’re about building relationships and making the donors feel like active, positive members of the nonprofit’s community who want to be involved instead of making them feel like ATMs.
Second, this process of telefundraising is extremely vulnerable. Picking up the phone and having a genuine conversation with someone is very intimate and challenging, but can be so rewarding in the end!
My 10 Quick Tips for Better Telefundraising
Now that you know the basics of setting up a telefundraising campaign, you’re ready to learn my top tips and tricks for building more genuine connections with potential donors and securing more donations.
1. Always be candid.
There’s an age-old sales adage that’s often thrown around in conversations about telefundraising—”Always Be Closing” (ABC). Not only is this needlessly obvious, but it also comes across as insincere (and even a little icky). Instead, I encourage you to always be candid on these calls.
Approaching each phone call with openness, honesty, and vulnerability will help establish a rapport with the potential donor and start building trust with them.
Of course, some donors will just want to cut to the chase, so be prepared for that, too.
2. Curiosity is key.
This is especially true with the first tent pole—the first 15 seconds of the call. When you show that you’re genuinely curious about the potential donor you’re talking to, it will be easier and quicker for you to form a bond with that person.
You might seek to learn who the potential donor is, what their experiences with the nonprofit have been like, why the nonprofit’s cause resonates with them, what is most important to them, and what is going on in their life right now, etc.
3. Maintain your role as “host” of the call.
Don’t give up your control of the call to the other person on the line. For example, if a potential donor says it’s not a good time for them to talk, offer another time for a call back, as opposed to an open-ended “What works for you?”
This also applies to the third tent pole, the ask. Be “front-footed” and ask if the potential donor can give a specific amount.
4. Acknowledge the current “given circumstances.”
Let the potential donor know about the current given circumstances of the campaign. For example, tell the donor if the campaign has just started, if your nonprofit is right in the middle of the campaign or if you’re trying to meet your goal before next week’s deadline, etc.
Also, acknowledge anything you and the potential donor are currently experiencing, such as a new season, an upcoming holiday, or national or local news.
You should also feel empowered to share your current state of being with the potential donor, especially if you’re new to telefundraising work. Don’t be afraid to vulnerably say, “I’m a little nervous” or “I’m kind of excited” or “I’m starting to feel confident as a fundraiser.”
5. People love specificity!
Be as specific as possible about the numerical goals you’re trying to reach and how far you have to go to meet those goals.
Here are some examples:
“We’re trying to raise $10,000 before our campaign ends next Wednesday.”
“I’m working to raise $5,000 this week myself.”
“This week we’re seeking to raise $15,000. And, silver lining, we have a board member who’s willing to match all gifts 1:1. So your gift will have double the impact!”
Being specific and offering real numbers can help orient the potential donor in your organization’s campaign and prepare them for the upcoming ask.
6. Never comment on the amount.
No matter how much you know about a particular donor, you can’t know what their experiences with money have been like or what their relationship is with their money right now. You shouldn’t even try to guess.
Instead of saying something like, “$1,000 is a great deal” or “I know $600 sounds like a lot, but…” simply state the numbers. Strive to detach “the ask” from your own emotional relationship with money. (Which is very challenging, I know!)
Not commenting on the numerical amount will help you avoid coming across as a salesperson and reinforce the fact that you’re an artist/administrator/board member/community member who is making fundraising calls for an organization that you truly believe in.
7. Hold for silence.
Though I mentioned this above in the “Arc of the Call” section, it’s worth repeating here.
Holding for silence is the key to the third tent pole—”The Ask.” Lay out for the potential donor what you’d ideally like for them to do (donate!) and then wait. I literally mean that you should wait as long as necessary. Let the donor be the one to break the silence. This gives them as much space as they need to think through your ask.
8. Decision fatigue is real.
My “Arc of the Call” method is designed in such a way that you’re never going to be asking the person on the other end of the line to choose between two options.
Even choosing between two things can lead to decision fatigue, in which a person gets overwhelmed by too many choices (for me, it happens when I’m trying to choose a toothpaste at CVS!).
To avoid pushing decision fatigue onto the donor, cater your ask to what may best suit them.
9. Embrace inclusive language.
The first person plural (“we”) will be your best friend on these fundraising calls!
You love your organization, and you want to help grow and strengthen the community that surrounds that organization. Using phrases like “We need your help right now” can invite donors to join and be involved members of that community. Using “we” instead of “you” and “us” invites them to be part of something bigger than themselves!
10. Address the potential donor by name.
Everyone loves hearing the sound of their own name. It makes us feel special and seen.
This is why you should use your potential donor’s name. And if you aren’t confident that you’re pronouncing their name correctly, ask them from a place of respect and genuine interest.
Saying the potential donor’s name is a great reminder to the person you’ve called (and to yourself) that the conversation is specifically catered to them as much as possible.
Donorly’s Approach to Telefundraising: Outbound Fundraising
I work for Donorly as a Senior Consultant and the firm’s resident outbound fundraising expert.
I’ve been working to rebrand telefundraising as “outbound fundraising.” Why? Because the work environments I strive to foster in my consulting work shift these fundraising phone conversations away from a transactional encounter toward a relationship-building opportunity.
Instead of just locking down donations, these phone calls give fundraisers the opportunity to get to know community members that support their organization. They serve as a sort of connective tissue between all of the other types of donor communication the organization uses.
Here’s how I got to where I am today: Before embracing my career as a fundraising consultant, I spent 16 years as a theatre director in New York City. I launched into telefundraising in order to support my burgeoning directing career. The success I experienced as a telefundraiser for a theatre company has led me to an unexpected parallel career in my 30’s, helping organizations build outbound fundraising campaigns from the ground up. Over my career, I’ve helped arts organizations raise $10 million+, primarily in donations under $2,000.
My experience in theatre has informed how I train others in outbound fundraising. I believe that by focusing on what makes each of us unique and engaging, we can empower individuals with the knowledge that they already possess and unlock the most critical tools needed to be skilled fundraisers: empathy, candor, vulnerability, enthusiasm, and storytelling.
Wrapping Up
So, how do you know that your organization is ready for an outbound fundraising (telefundraising) campaign?
If you’re looking for a fresh, authentic strategy to community-based fundraising, you’re ready. If you want to empower your staff to tap into their individual strengths and form genuine connections with those who support your cause, you’re ready. If you’re ready to flip telefundraising stereotypes on their heads and try a vulnerable, human approach to pulling in support for your organization, you’re ready.
And I (along with the rest of the Donorly team) am ready to help! Reach out to us today to get started on your own telefundraising campaign!
