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Welcome to Vantage Business Support & Insurance Services
VANTAGE has been servicing the nonprofit industry for over 35 years. Over the years we have accumulated much knowledge, contacts and experience in helping to establish nonprofits and help them grow. As such, we will be publishing a semimonthly newsletter geared toward providing nonprofits with the latest news, products, and guidelines to assist in their success and growth. Please feel free to comment and/or request topics that are important to you for us to research.
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Thank You Phone Calls - 5 Best Practices for Nonprofits
 I was blown away! Shortly after I set up up a monthly donation to Doctors Without Borders, in the wake of the Ebola crisis, I got a phone call thanking me for that small donation.
The woman thanked me warmly and said that I would be getting a welcome packet in the mail soon, and that I would be receiving email and invitations to participate in briefings. I stammered a thank you! and started thinking about how I could upgrade that measly donation.
Frankly, I almost never get a thank you phone call.
Because they are so infrequent, I am always pleasantly surprised. Those hackles that immediately arise when I hear a voice say "This is Susan, calling for XYZ charity," magically convert to a smile. I put the brakes on my at-the-ready "no," and respond with something like, "Oh...well, thank you for calling."
I'm not alone. Penelope Burk reports that, in her donor research, 34 percent of donors who got a personal thank you call gave again to that charity, because of the call.
But there are still right and wrong ways to thank a donor over the phone. One of my favorite bloggers, Lori Jacobwith, put together a list of best practices for phone thanking. Here are just a few of her tips with my own embellishments:
1. Use my name. Seems obvious, but sometimes callers forget and just launch in. Using my name gives me a heads up and may reassure me that the call is benign.
2. Mention my last gift or that I've been a donor for 10 years, or that I just upgraded to a monthly gift. Let me know that you know about me and my history with your charity. Don't ask for another gift! Just stick to saying thanks. Don't be rattled if the donor doesn't remember giving to your organization. Just say, "Well, we remember you! And we want to say thanks."
3. Leave a warm voice mail, if I'm not available. For me, getting a voice mail is almost as good as the real thing. These days, you're more likely to have to leave a message anyway. People screen their calls, or they're out and about. If you can leave a nice message, consider it mission accomplished
4. Ask me a couple of questions, if I seem willing to chat. Good questions are "what keeps me giving?" Or "how has the charity affected my life or the life of someone I know?" You might be surprised at the motives you uncover and stories that inspire you.
5. Get your volunteers and board members involved. Have a phonathon just for thanking. Make it an event and have fun. Provide some basic training and then set your phoners free. If you ask people to make those calls from home, do give them a list of tips and even let them do a practice run on you so you can provide feedback.
What about young donors? Do they care about phone calls?
Some research found that millennials use their smart phones for just about anything other than making and receiving phone calls. And they especially won't welcome phone calls or texts from a charity.
That research applies to solicitations, and we really don't know how they would view a thank-you call, voice mail message or text. If your donors are in this generation, test first before you roll out a phone thanking program.
Add phone thank yous to your donor retention to-do list and see how those phone calls work their magic.
Source: Joanne Fritz Nonprofit Charitable Orgs Expert |
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DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY
Our firm provides the information in this e-newsletter for general guidance only, and does not constitute the provision of legal advice, tax advice, accounting services, investment advice, or professional consulting of any kind. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional tax, accounting, legal, or other competent advisers. Before making any decision or taking any action, you should consult a professional adviser who has been provided with all pertinent facts relevant to your particular situation. Tax articles in this e-newsletter are not intended to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding accuracy-related penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. The information is provided "as is," with no assurance or guarantee of completeness, accuracy, or timeliness of the information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose.
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Nonprofit Products
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VANTAGE has a wide range of products designed to sustain nonprofit success and growth. These products include:
Health Insurance Exchange
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