The time you spend making calls to donors can make or break your campaign’s success. Attention to detail before, during, and after making calls makes the difference between nabbing a critical contribution and losing a valuable donor.
You can make your fundraising even more fruitful by following these five proven tips:
- Use a phone number dedicated to Call Time
Success in Call Time is about volume. The more calls you make, the more money you’ll bring in. However, upping your call volume comes with the increased risk of your number getting flagged as suspicious. Plus, you’ll be calling strangers, not all of whom will become valued contacts. If you’d like a personal phone to be useable after the campaign is over, it’s best not to use it for Call Time.
Try a Google Voice number if your dialer does not provide numbers to use during Call Time. A Google Voice number is free to acquire in most cases, can reach you on your cell phone, and gives you control over who can contact you.
- Call between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. local time
You’ll find the highest rate of success when you call during “business hours” on weekdays. For special groups that have unusual work hours, such as doctors or lawyers, you may have better luck on evenings or weekends.
- Use recorded voicemails when possible
Recording a voicemail asking a donor to call you back may seem impersonal, but you can create an effective and natural-sounding message. A well-recorded voicemail will save you time and increase your dials per hour. When it’s appropriate, you can leave a voicemail live if needed.
- Send personalized follow up
It’s the little things that mean a lot! One sentence of personalization, whether it’s mentioning the details of a previous conversation or a position you think a donor would appreciate, shows you care. Donors are people— so asking after their father, who just had surgery, or their daughter, who is off at college, makes them feel listened to and cared for. The better you make people feel, the more likely they are to open their wallets.
- Use good data
You can do everything right, but if your data isn’t reliable, your fundraising will be stifled. Using a good dialer and keeping track of donor connections will help you identify the contacts that need to be worked on.
At Sterling, we provide AI-driven targets in our Call Time Lists– donors who want to hear from you. Working with Sterling will also give you access to proven strategies for Call Time success, perfected through thousands of hours of Call Time with candidates all over the country.
