How to Raise More Money from Call Time

July 1, 2021
6 minute read
Fundraising

This post was originally published by Kalani Tissot on his blog and has been reposted here with his permission.

Each call time session has one fundamental goal — to raise as much money as possible within the amount of time available. That’s it.

Your candidate’s time is worth money, and it’s your job as a fundraiser to make their time as valuable and productive as possible. One way to do this is to implement strategies and methods that will increase the number of conversations that your candidate will have with donors in a specific time block.

Generally speaking, the more meaningful conversations your candidates can have in an hour, the more you will raise for the campaign.

Here are some strategies that will increase your candidate’s connect rate per hour of call time.

1. Schedule calls ahead of each session

Assuming your candidate’s call time is scheduled in advance, you can reach out to donors ahead of time and pencil them in.

There are a few ways to do this:

  • Email them from your candidate’s campaign account asking if they are free for a call during your next session.
  • Send them a text message from said number ahead of each session asking if they’d be free to take your (candidate’s) call.
  • Have a staff member call through a list of your targeted donors and either leave a pre-recorded voicemail from your candidate asking to find time to connect or speak with the donors directly.

2. Validate all phone numbers that your candidate will be calling

Wrong numbers waste time and reduce the number of correct calls that a candidate can make per hour. The gold standard is to never have your candidate call the wrong number. Having a staff member or intern call through new phone numbers ahead of time is a best practice and will ensure that your call time is as effective as possible.

3. Use a power dialer like Phoneburner, CallTime Ai, or Numero CallTime

The age of paper call sheets and binders is behind us. Power dialers are an effective way to use technology to increase the number of calls your candidate can make per hour. Instead of dialing by hand and entering each number, a power dialer simply requires a click to start ringing. Here are three power dialers that campaigns can use:

PhoneBurner

(Website here: https://www.phoneburner.com/)

Phoneburner allows your candidate to make significantly more calls in any given session while streamlining voicemails and email follow-ups all on one platform.

CallTime Ai

(Website here: https://www.calltime.ai/)

In addition to having a built-in dialer, CallTime Ai also provides instant donor research on all of your target’s prior giving history and can send quick templated emails & text messages.

Numero CallTime

(Website here: https://numero.ai/)

If you use Numero as your CRM for campaign donors, you should definitely use their call time app. It allows staff members to create custom call lists for their candidates, lets candidates record call outcomes directly, and send quick templated emails & text follow-ups.

4. Double Dial with multiple staff members

If you have multiple staff members available for a call time session, one of them can dial along with your candidate to reach as many donors as possible. This strategy can be executed virtually or in-person.

5. Be strategic about voicemails

Be careful about leaving custom voicemails during call time. A 2013 survey by eVoice found that only 33 percent of people listen to voicemail from business contacts. If a donor has your candidate’s number saved in their phone and they have an existing relationship, then leave a custom voicemail. Otherwise, skip leaving any voicemail or drop a pre-recorded voicemail.

6. Send immediate follow-ups

Upon not reaching a potential donor, send them a text message and email follow-up ASAP. This can increase your connection rate as donors may be available shortly after missing a call.

7. Internal Chit-chat

Avoid back-and-forth conversations between staff and the candidate on non-fundraising-related topics to keep your candidate focused.

8. Background noises and disruptions

When your candidate is making calls, they need to be focused. Choose quiet and private locations for call time.

Do you have any strategies that you use to make call time more effective? I’d love to hear it. Please send me a note at Kalani@TissotSolutions.com.

Kalani Tissot is a political fundraiser and consultant based in Las Vegas, Nevada.