If there ever there were a medium where nonprofits consistently get it wrong it’s telemarketing.

In my experience no medium, short of a personal visit, is as powerful. IF … used correctly, which unfortunately is seldom the case.

CEOs and boards generally hate telemarketing. Adding to the dilemma is the fact that few fundraisers understand its potential, its nuances and therefore can’t defend it properly and vigorously.

Consequently, nonprofits lose thousands/millions not employing telemarketing or waste countless thousands/millions in meaningless, non-ending testing and never truly understand or capture the supreme power of this medium.

Kinda like believing your laptop is great for email and never understanding its other capabilities.

I should know. I started the first fundraising telemarketing firm in the U.S. 40 years ago and then left the field dismayed by the foolish and fickle non-understanding of nonprofits.

In many ways I pity the folks in nonprofits who feel they have to constantly pit one telemarketer against another. Always testing with no specific or well-defined goals in mind. Always looking for better results and never understanding that consistency and yes, complexity, are what produce the best bottom line. With this fickle methodology you’re condemned to eternal uncertainty and waste.

Tom and I are adamant believers in the power of telemarketing and often wonder why in the world more nonprofits don’t employ it. See here and here and here.

And we’ve run case examples hoping that our readers would gain a better understanding.

But since we’re in the business of rolling the rock up hill, we’ll try again.

This time a series of ‘Integrated Fundraising Case Studies’ prepared by Joe White and Steve Hubley of Left Bank Consulting.

Here’s the main paper, with back-up material here and here.

Joe and Steve don’t operate call centers or telemarketing firms. They’re independent consultants who advise and steer their clients to the best methods and the best places to go to get top results.

And herein lies the key. Who among our readers would spend thousands of $$ determining whether one printing press produced better quality printing for direct mail than another press. My Heildelberg will beat your whatever!

Same with telemarketing. There are few (I’d guess no more than 19) fundraisers in the entire world truly capable of understanding and managing sophisticated tele-fundraising programs. About the same number who understand how a printing press or HTML code really works.

So why in the world subject your potentially dynamite telemarketing efforts to the “let’s test every vendor” speed-dating marathon. That’s crazy. Simply nuts.

Take a look at the cases here.

The point in offering these cases is to demonstrate the thought and strategy that goes into truly effective tele-fundraising. It’s really not as simple as picking up the phone and demanding the price quote and schedule on ‘reinstatements’ or ‘renewals’.

Case #1 shows how marrying telemarkeing with direct mail and video not only significantly boosts revenue but also Return on Investment.

Case #2 focuses on attracting monthly sustaining donors, and clearly demonstrates why hiring a telemarketing expert, independent of the call centers themselves, is such a wise move.

Please take time to read and study — here again is the main paper, with back-up material here and here.

Our thanks — and an Agitator raise — to Joe and Steve and the Montreal SPCA for sharing the results and taking the time to explain in detail how real telemarketing should be approached.

What are you doing with this powerful medium? Have you truly been thoughtful and strategic?

Roger

P.S. Chances are you may not know what other folks in your organization are doing about tele-fundraising. Ask them to explain. My guess is you’ll be shocked. And I’ll buy you lunch if you get a lucid, strategic explanation.