Fundraising & Social Media

Telephone Solicitation: Some Final Thoughts

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on July 8, 2015

As previously noted, if your phone program is primarily a fundraising solicitation tool, then the goal must be to raise as much money as possible. That happens when all of the elements in a phone program support/enhance each other. We’ve talked about caller recruitment, training, scripting and pre-call mail or email. We’ve also talked about […]

Telephone Solicitation: Caller Training – The Script

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on July 1, 2015

Our apologies. Circumstances precluded our posting last week … first non-holiday week we’ve missed in five years. We continue, now, with our series on Telephone Solicitation. And, by the way, our use of that term excludes telemarketing, robocalling or whatever you call those intrusive, unwelcome calls that always seem to come at inopportune times. Telephone […]

Recruiting the Telephone Solicitor

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on June 17, 2015

The key ingredient of an in-house telephone solicitation program is the person making the phone call. [And, btw, with all the (misplaced) emphasis on the use of social media to raise money, keep in mind that the telephone is a “social medium.”] Last week I noted that pre-call mail (snail mail or email) discusses the […]

Effective Telephone Solicitation – Part Two

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on June 11, 2015

As noted last week, to optimize a caller’s effectiveness, prospects should be prepared for the call. They must know it’s coming, that they will be asked for a specific dollar figure, and what that figure will be. They must understand the need for their support, and they should (hopefully) be made to look forward to […]

Annual Giving and Telephone Solicitation

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on June 3, 2015

This posting, and the follow-ups, are all about two concepts that push my buttons. The first, “Annual Giving”, makes me grit my teeth; the second, telephone solicitation, makes me twitch in frustration…. The term “Annual Giving,” and the resulting mind-set, have become accepted as part of the environment of (mostly) educational institutions, without awareness of […]

Mobile Fundraising: Practical Advice

By Rick Christ on April 12, 2012

After some $40 million was raised in $10 gifts through cell phones for the Haiti earthquake response in January, 2010, every nonprofit had dreams of cell phones as mobile donation machines. Even for the Red Cross, those dreams seem to have evaporated. However, mobile use among Americans has increased dramatically. It’s probably true that among […]

Email Quality Matters – and Each Mistake Costs $40 … or more !!

By Rick Christ on March 15, 2012

One of the advantages of online fundraising and marketing is that the data entry is outsourced to the donor. It’s also one of the disadvantages! When a donor writes a check and mails it to you, you have to pay someone (at your organization, or at a service bureau) to open the envelope, deposit the […]

Saying “Thanks… And…” via Email

By Rick Christ on February 16, 2012

If you have a donor’s email address, use it several times without asking for money. The best way to use a donor’s email address is to thank them for a recent gift, and tell them how their money is being used. If you have a donor’s email address on file, then send them an email […]

Google Changed the Search Engine Rules

By Rick Christ on January 12, 2012

Online fundraising happens …when people come to your website and make a gift. While you can reach previous donors and prospects with email, the vast majority of online donors are not on your email list – yet. While you can pay for ads to bring traffic to your website, Google and other search engines will […]

Social Media Enhance Email Success

By Rick Christ on December 6, 2011

Want to increase the impact of your fundraising emails? Don’t leave online social media out of the picture. Consider this interesting fact: Americans spend 3 times as much time on social media as they do on email. Improve your email performance by combining your email messaging with your social media presence.  With a modest investment […]

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