Raising Money on the Phone

Many groups shy away from using the phone for fundraising because they are afraid of alienating donors. They don’t want to be put in the same boat as those annoying dinnertime telemarketers, but the truth is that most people don’t mind being contacted on the phone by charities they already know. And the fact also is that the telephone is the best way to renew lapsed donors and clear the deadwood out of your direct mail house list.

Most non-profits who conduct direct mail campaigns have people on their list who haven’t made a donation in a long time. This doesn’t mean, however, that they will never give you another gift, but it probably means they have moved and the current resident is just throwing your packages in the trash. Or it might mean that they’ve passed on and should be removed from your list. Maybe they’ve just lost interest in your cause. Perhaps you’ve done something they don’t approve of or they’re suffering from a misperception based on an inaccurate news story.

Clearing Things Up
There are many possible reasons for someone to stop giving and the easiest way to determine the truth is to call and ask what’s up. If you do, you will most likely make money by reactivating several donors and save money by no longer sending mail to people who aren’t interested in you anymore. What’s more, you will get a better idea of what some people think of the work you are doing. If there’s a general misperception about your work floating around, it’s best to find out what it is and clear it up.

This is an excerpt from Issue 49 of Fundraising 101. The entire issue can be downloaded as a pdf file for CDN $7.95 by going to http://www.lostcitypress.net/fundraising 101.html.

Simple Fundraising Ideas

Idea #1: Feed the People
Here’s a simple fundraising idea that you can adapt to your own needs. Ask your local transit authority if you can set up a table in one of their busier stations to give away coffee and donuts to commuters. If they agree, then you solicit a donation of coffee from a manufacturer and maybe get the donuts or Danishes from a large baker like Sarah Lee. You will probably have more luck getting such donations from companies that won’t see this as competition, but rather see it as a form of promotion. A company that sells coffee and donuts to commuters might see it as competition; a company that sells coffee in supermarkets, Maxwell House for instance, probably won’t.

The companies provide signs to promote their products, and you of course erect your own. Have your organization’s literature on the table and a jar for donations. Your minimum donation should be what the coffee and Danish would cost, but of course many people will give you more. Additional benefits include the free publicity you get, especially if you invite the local television news channel to come out and film you, and if things go well, you may have sown the seeds for a more significant corporate sponsorship from the coffee company, or the bakery, if it is large enough.

This is an excerpt from Issue 48 of Fundraising 101. The entire newsletter is available for download at www.lostcitpress.net/fundraising101.html

The Right Order for Implementing Fundraising Campaigns

Here’s a basic outline of how a group puts together a successful fundraising program.

Decide what you want to accomplish.

Decide how you are going to accomplish it.

Make a mission statement and a case statement.

Put together a committed and involved Board of Directors.

Apply for foundation and government grants.

Use some of the grant money you receive to implement your programs and some to implement new campaigns.

Develop mechanisms for tracking your success rate.

Use your successes as a springboard for other self-sustaining programs, such as those listed below.

The annual direct mail campaign.

The annual special event

An on-going face-to-face program.

Publicize your group’s work, using as many free or low-cost techniques as possible.

Recruit committed and involved volunteers.

Implement a programme of donor stewardship.

Only after you have laid a strong foundation with direct mail, face-to-face, and special events should you look into the techniques listed below.

Corporate Sponsorships.

Planned Giving.

How to Ask for Money So That People Say Yes.

The real task for fundraisers is asking in such a way that you hear ‘yes’ more often. The first step in doing that is to have a clear idea of what the money is for, and then you have to be able to articulate that in a couple of sentences. Dear Friend, Would you be willing to support our organization if you knew it would make a significant difference in the life of another person? That’s the basic fundraising question, but before you can ask it with confidence, you ought to have already helped at least a few people. If you’re an established group, that shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re a relatively new group, establishing a track record should be a major priority. Fundraising is a lot easier when you can point to your successes and tell the prospective donor that what you are asking them to do is help make an already successful enterprise even more successful. The usual path for getting to that point is to apply for a foundation or government grant, and then implement at least one programme. Once your programme is underway, and you have seen some positive outcomes, then you can move onto more self-sustaining forms of fundraising, such as special events and direct mail.

This post is an excerpt from Issue 32 of Fundraising 101 and is also a chapter in my book, The Best of Fundraising 101.