Fundraising by Telephone                Inbound Services                 Special Fundraising Campaigns

Monthly Giving Programs                     Reinstatement/Renewal                   First Year Renewal

Fundraising by Telephone

Inbound Services

If you're worried about the ever-increasing number of competing direct-mail appeals battling for the limited attention of donors, you'll want to explore the exciting opportunities open to you through Tele-Fundraising.

We invite you to join these successful fundraising managers who have discovered the added advantage of Tele-Fundraising.

Tele-Fundraising is the creative and sophisticated use of the telephone...

    • Improve Response Rates
    • Increase Average Gifts
    • Upgrade Donors
    • Reinstate Lapsed Donors
    • Conduct Special Campaigns


When it comes to the cultivation and direct solcitation of donors, Tele-Fundraising is the next best thing to being there.

The telephone-like the direct mail letter itself-is but an extension of the individual.  The instrument through which your organization's case for support can be clearly and effectively stated.

Tele-Fundraising gives you an advantage over mail alone.  In its simplest form you can personally say "thank you" to thousands of new donors.  In more sophisticated applications the person-to-person approach of Tele-Fundraising enables your organization to personally answer questions, emphasize currect developments and solicit support in ways not possible by mail alone.  These are just a few of the reasons why the most successful fundraising organizations are putting Tele-Fundraising to work for them

The Professionals Behind Tele-Fundraising...

Tele-Fundraising is a professional service of Public Interest Communications, Inc.  PIC is the largest telemarketing firm of its kind specializing in fundraising and membership development programs for public interest, citizen advocacy, charitable, political and cultural organizations.

Employing carefully trained and constantly monitored teams of experienced solicitors, PIC completes more than 2 million telephone solicitaions each year.

A highly experienced staff of technical and fundraising experts assures quality control for each of our clients. 

We're proud of our track record. And, more importantly, so are the organizations we serve.

For more than 20 years, we're effectively employed our system of Tele-Fundrasing to:

    • Substantially boost membership and donor renewal rates.
    • Effectively reinstate lapsed donors to active-and continuing-giving status.
    • Significantly increase both the reponse rates and the average gifts of fundraising appeals.
    • Successfully enroll donors into monthly giving clubs.
    • Helpfully provide both qualitative and quantitative information on donor attitudes to alert our clients to the changing concerns of donors

How Public Interest Communications Can Help You...

To help you determine the feasibility and economic effectiveness of Tele-Fundraising for your organization, we take the following steps:

Analysis of current fundraising and development programs----

The Tele-Fundraising program designed for you must fit your organization's overall development and fundraising program.  At our expense, we will review your current programs and provide recommendations for the most efficient, most productive applications of Tele-Fundrasing. 

Once we understand your goals and needs, we will recommend one, or a series of tests, designed to determine whether Tele-Fundraising will effectively serve you.

The purpose of the test is to limit the financial risk while providing sufficient information to accurately project the amount of income Tele-Fundraising will provide on a "roll-out" or more massive continuation basis.

Select a test sample----

As in direct mail, a small, properly selected sample of a donor or membership group will serve as an adequate predictor of success.

We will work with you to draw the proper random sample of names for the initial test.  In order to determine the effectiveness of Tele-Fundraising when used against direct mail alone, we recommend that you provide for mailing a control group at the same time we are conducting the Tele-Fundraising test.

Develop the script and orient solicitors---

The creative and supervisory staff of PIC will work with you or appropriate members of your staff to develop the most persuasive, factually accurate message to be used in the test.

Like a good direct mail letter or personal visit, the well-conceived Tele-Fundraising campaign is designed to  (1) thank the donor or member for previous support; (2) convey information about an immediate and pressing need; (3) ask specifically for a gift and, (4) thank the donor again.

Manage and supervise calling and verification---

Once the message has been agreed to and the solicitors oriented, we will conduct the test and verify the results.

The process of  "verification" is part of our quality control program which assures you and us that the data from the test are accurate.

Design, write and manage production of tele-fundraising packages---

The telephone call is just one part of the effective Tele-Fundraising program.  Each call is accompanied by one or a series of mail packages designed to elicit maximum response.

Our creative and production staff will produce the packages required for success.  All copy will first be approved by you before production begins.  All production items are competitively bid to assure the lowest prices within the bounds of quality and timeliness.

Secure all telephone numbers and  maintain detailed records and report of results---

PIC will locate the telphone numbers for the sample provided.  Daily tallies of results and tracking of pledge payments will be made by our Evaluation and Monitoring Teams.

Provide both periodical and final reports---

We will keep you posted daily or as often as you would like as the test progresses.  When the test has been completed, we will submit a written report setting forth all costs and income.  And... we will provide a helpful sampling of comments and reactions received from your donors.

The Final Report will set forth our recommendations as to whether a continuation of the Program is warranted.  And we will project both the short and long-term economic benefits of any continuation we recommend.

We Want to Help You

If you would like to learn more about how Tele-Fundraising can help you raise more money or build a larger membership, please take a moment to read the detailed descriptions of some of the effective Tele-Fundraising programs that are right now helping others.  They're outlined in the following section.

And...if you would like to discuss how Tele-Fundraising can give you the added advantage, please write:

Jim Chmielewski, Vice-President of Client Services

Public Interest Communications

7700 Leesburg Pike #301

Falls Church, Virginia 22043

Better yet... pick up the phone and call him at 703-847-8300 or 800-671-6843.  It could be the most rewarding fundraising call you'll ever make.

 

Reinstatement/Renewal Campaigns

The economics of direct mail fundraising are such that the most expensive part of the process involves the acquistion of new donors to replace those who have fallen away from active status.

Tele-Fundraising has proven to be a markedly cost effective way of reinstating or renewing donors who have failed to react to direct mail efforts alone.

In case after case, we have found that following a direct mail renewal series of six or seven notices it is likely that somewhere between 10% and 20% of a lapsed or expired group of donors can be reinstated by Tele-Fundraising.

And... through Tele-Fundraising they can be reinstated or renewed at far less cost than the organization would normally spend to acquire a new donor needed to replace the one lost through direct mail attrition.

Just as important is the fact that once donors are reinstated or renewed by telephone, you will be able to put them back into the direct mail renewal program.  And their performance in future years will be virtually identical to those who never strayed in the first place.

As a general rule, Tele-Fundraising Renewal and Reinstatement Programs are run at the end of the direct mail renewal cycle.

But that should be tested.  We have found that the response rates and average gifts can often be dramatically improved by putting the Tele-Fundraising Program into the renewal process early in the cycle.

Example: A Tele-Fundraising Reinstatement Program which produces a 12% response rate and a $20 avarage gift will generally net $5 per donor.

If you are currently netting $5 or less per newly acquired donor, then Tele-Fundraising will prove to be more cost effective than simply going into the mail and finding a new donor.

 
 

Many non-profit organizations and professional associations have discovered the advantages of adding inbound phone services to their overall fundraising mix. They have also discovered the difficulty of finding a true Tele-Fundraising firm to handle inbound calls.

That's where Public Interest Communications comes in. We have the capability to handle a vast number of inbound calls and unrivaled fundraising experience.

Only One Chance at a First Impression. 

Callers begin forming an opinion of an organization as soon as the last digit of your phone number is dialed. Does the call go through quickly? Does it go through at all?  How many rings before the call is answered? Then, the operators are on. Are they courteous?  Professional? Informed?  Do they share the callers' concern and understanding of the issues? 

The first impression presented by the operator is crucial to a prospective donor's decision to join your organization. The continued generosity and involvement of long-time members also hinges on the treatment they receive from operators.

Choosing the right firm to provide inbound phone services is essential. Public Interest Communications is your best choice due to several key factors:

  • a highly-trained, professional Tele-Fundraising staff...
  • the ability to handle hundreds of inbound calls per hour...
  • 24-hour/7-day phone coverage...
  • more than 20 years experience serving America's most important non-profit organizations and professional associations.

Public Interest Communications also meets the most important standard: treating your donors just as you would.

There are hundreds of telemarketing firms capable of taking orders over the phone. But callers who take the time to call you aren't mere "orders" ... they are concerned, committed people.

Public Interest Communications knows how to turn them into concerned, committed donors and members. 

We can handle all aspects of your inbound program: initial consultation and system design ... creative development of scripts and follow-up material ... production and design of all printed components ... database services and file maintenance ... fulfillment services ... insightful reporting of daily results ... and customized analysis of your entire inbound program. 

We sweat the details -- state of the art telecommunications technology, multiple access lines, switching diversity, and redundant back up systems -- so you don't have to.

 

Special Fundraising Campaigns

There is no question that in a perfect world any development director or fundraiser would prefer to have trained volunteer solicitors making face-to-face calls on specially selected prospects.

But... it's not a perfect world!

And from a fundraising standpoint our world is growing even more imperfect. Volunteer solicitors are scarce and growing scarcer. The geographic spread of most organizations' donor constituencies makes organizing expensive and time-consuming.

Enter Tele-Fundraising!

By replicating as nearly as possible the essential dynamics of one-on-one fundraising through the use of mail and telephone, we have proven that great accomplishments are possible.

A campaign built on mail and telephone, uses the mail as a cultivation and information device and the phone for the actual solicitation phase.

Generally these types of Tele-Fundraising campaigns consist of one or more letters mailed before the actual telephone solicitations take place.

The purpose of the mailings is to state the case for support, provide a sense of urgency and, not unimportantly, introduce the fact that the prospective donor will be receiving a telephone call.

Following the initial mailings comes the all-important phone call(s). The purpose of the telephone phase of the effort is to make certain that the prospect understands the information conveyed through the mail, has his or her questions answered, and is then solicited.

As in face-to-face fundraising, the process of solicitation may involve more than one call. And, importantly, the process of negotiation over the size and timing of the gift is key.

Because many mass donor record systems contain no more information about donors than the size and frequency of their previous contributions, the role of the phone solicitor becomes paramount. It is the job of the solicitor to identify interests, to aim high enough when it comes to the amount of the suggested gift, and to carefully keep the prospect interested while the size of the gift is discussed or negotiated.

Once the solicitation is over, follow-up mailings come into play to confirm and collect the telephone commitment.

The audience being addressed has a direct bearing on the efficiency of the process. One can generally expect the best part of a mass donor base to perform best in these special phone campaigns.

Those parts of a donor base which are marginal by mail will generally prove marginal by phone also.

If the telephone is employed properly in conjunction with mail, it has been clearly demonstrated that substantial upgrading of small gift donors is possible to a degree unimagined by mail alone.

The successful Tele-Fundraising campaign should make it possible for you to upgrade a small donor substantially.

It is not unusual to find that somewhere between 5% and 10% of a mass group of donors who normally contribute $100 can be upgraded to gifts ranging from $300 to $1,000 and even more.
 

Monthly Giving Programs

Converting donors who provide occasional contributions into reliable monthly givers can be a profitable, but difficult, process.

The potential profits are a matter of simple mathematics.  A donor who sends a $25 check when convinced of the need --we'll assume three times a year -- has a total annual value of $75.  But if the same donor agrees to send "just" $10 every month, his or her annual value leaps to $120 -- an increase of 60%.  Just as important, monthly donors become more committed to the organization's work and more likely to provide contributions over and above their usual pledge amount.

Difficulties arise, as you may already know, when trying to convince donors to make a monthly financial commitment.  Tele-Fundraising, as employed by the professionals of Public Interest Communications, can overcome this challenge and pave the way to higher profits.

Consider the advantages a phone call has over the traditional direct mail sustainer invitation:

  • Higher initial response rates -- conducting a give-and -take conversation with donors over the phone allows an opportunity to better explain the need for monthly gifts while overcoming objections to making a more substantial commitment to the organization.  As a result, more donors agree to step up their giving.
  • Improved pledge fulfillment -- respondents to mail-only monthly giving solicitations often don't realize what they are signing up for and consequently fulfill their promised pledges at an unacceptably low rate.  Those who join monthly giving programs over the phone are more likely to honor their pledges over an extended period of time.
  • Higher pledge amounts -- a well-trained caller who is aware of the donor's past giving history can negotiate an appropriate monthly pledge amount; one that increases the donor's annual value rather than downgrading it or simply breaking the same total amount into monthly installments.
  • Greater return on investment-- while it may cost less to mail a monthly giving solicitation, using the phone pays higher dividends in the form of enhanced response rate, pledge fulfillments, and average gifts.  Plus, donors who are unwilling to make a monthly commitment can often be convinced to provide a one-time gift over the phone ... an option they rarely consider when reading a direct mail sustainer invitation.

Any one of these advantages is reason enough to make Tele-Fundraising a part of your monthly giving program.  Taken together, they can produce astounding results: one Public Interest Communications client has found sustainer invitations conducted over the phone to be six times more effective than mere mailings.
 

First Year Renewal Campaign

In recent years, many organizations have experienced a dramatic increase in the number of new acquisitions. Unfortunately, the enormous potential in this new- found donor group is not fully realized because first year members generally do not renew at the same rate as those acquired in less heated times.

The results? Missed projections. Missed income. Organizational disappointment that somehow the group is not holding on to its members.

To meet this problems, Public Interest Communications developed a special telemarketing program designed to enhance the retention of this critical first year renewal group.

The results have been nothing short of astounding. Not only have we proven that the overall renewal rate of this group is enhanced-by 10%-20%- but that, once retained, their giving patterns and future renewal rates take on a pattern similar to that for the organization's more ingrained donors.

Example: A Tele-Fundraising Renewal Program to a group producing a 20% lift in overall renewal response rate (i.e., increase a 50% renewal rate to 60%) retains an additional 100 donors for every 1,000 up for renewal.

For organizations with a $20 average renewal gift, with 50,000 first year donors, this could mean additional first year net revenue of almost $25,000. And, when you factor in the savings of not replacing these retained donors, the costs of additional renewal mailings, the income from special appeals, and future years renewal income, this figure becomes even more impressive.