Most business leaders devote some
of their personal time to work
with charitable groups, industry associations or their favorite political
party. In many cases, the group’s activity
includes soliciting people, either for
financial or voting support. At this time
of year, the phone seems to ring off the
hook with political candidates’ prere-corded messages. Meantime, charities
need to replenish their donor lists.
Boards of directors at nonprofits should
be consulted for guidance on phone
solicitation practices.
“Generally, charities and political
groups are exempt from the Do Not Call
list provisos,” says Steve Boyazis, executive vice president at InfoCision
Management Corp.
Smart Business spoke with Boyazis
about nonprofit organizations and their
phone solicitation practices.
Are all nonprofits and political groups
exempt from Do Not Call (DNC) restrictions?
Most nonprofit and political organizations are exempt from the DNC restrictions. However, they are required to
keep an organization-specific DNC list.
If a client says that they no longer want
to be called by that specific foundation,
it must honor that request. So it is very
important to handle each and every
phone number as a long-term resource.
How should a company manage outbound
expectations?
We’ve all had that situation where we
get home and someone has left 20 hang-ups on our answering machine. That is
certainly one way to reach people, but it
is also a sure-fire way to get people to
ask you not to call them back. Any outbound calling strategy just needs to be
examined from the client’s perspective. It
makes sense to call clients when they
want to be called, make your presentation quickly and enthusiastically when
you get a hold of someone, and treat his
or her time as valuable. We found, time
and again, that after 10 attempts or so,
we basically have gotten more than 95 percent of the donations you can gather from the prospect list. Calling more
often leads to a dissatisfied customer and
wasted resources on the charity’s end.
From the economic viewpoint, are there certain times when it does not make sense to
make outbound solicitation calls?
There’s really no right answer because
if you call too much you run the risk of
alienating your donor base. If you don’t
call enough, you could lose the public’s
affinity to your organization and what
you do. In a perfect world you’d have a
way to touch the donor every six to eight
weeks or so — but not always with a gift
request.
Sometimes, it pays to provide them
with a data-rich direct-mail piece that
helps explain what your organization is
doing and current challenges. Other
times, it may be with a quick thank-you
call or e-mail. Then you mix in a request
for people to get personally involved. A
well-balanced multimedia campaign that
is tied to current events and what is
going on in the world is ultimately what
builds the strongest relationships. There is really no simple, prescriptive plan you
can follow.
Should DNC preferences ever be ignored?
It is absolutely OK to make fundraising
calls for nonprofit organizations, but the
key is understanding the full body of
commercial regulations and their intent
because much of it is founded in just
good customer service practice. For
instance, if a specific region of the country is in the midst of a natural disaster,
like a hurricane, it doesn’t make sense to
call in to that area. Our research shows
there are specific times when people are
more likely to pick up the phone, so you
don’t want to make calls when they are
not likely to answer.
Ultimately, the message here is all the
same: You need a thoughtful, planned
approach to prospecting and cultivating
your clients. Just because the DNC regulations are less restrictive for nonprofits,
doesn’t mean it makes good business
sense to do whatever you want.
What is a good outbound-call template for a
nonprofit or political group to follow?
A good call is one where you get a ‘No,
thanks’ quickly if you are going to get it;
and, when you get a ‘Yes,’ it comes with
some real buy in. That means that the
caller has made a connection on the
topic at hand. You can do that by building from personal experience, reminding
them why they’ve given in the past, letting them know that there is a tipping
point soon to come that will help us find
a cure, pass a law, explaining all the
good that has come from their donations
in the past or whatever. The key is all
about building a relationship. When you
build that with consistency over multiple
calls and different media you have a
much better long-term connection. So a
good call flow is to start by understanding why the prospect supports the issue
and quickly funneling that down to a
specific and timely need to give.
STEVE BOYAZIS is the executive vice president at InfoCision Management Corp. Reach him at [email protected] or (330)
670-5877.