Erin is currently one of our most successful phone canvassers and has also managed mall programs and worked as a street canvasser.

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Street canvassing vs telefundraising.

It’s been five years since I walked through the doors of the fundraising consulting company for which I currently work, hoping to ace the interview and start what would most likely be an illustrious career in fundraising for charities…and I’ve been extremely lucky in those five years to have experienced a variety of different forms of canvassing: street, indoor locations and now find myself in my current home, the telefundraising department.

I know that the phoning department here at my company is unique.  We don’t cold call.  The phoners in my department are responsible for calling those potential donors who were unable to “lock down” their donation with our front line mediums (street, door, malls)  Reasons for a phone follow-up range from wanting to confer with a partner, needing time to budget for a monthly donation, or simply forgetting their banking info at home.

This arrangement makes for an interesting opportunity as a telefundraiser, but it also presents some unique challenges.  As a former street canvasser, I’ve been a part of both worlds, and these are what I see as the key differences between the two.

Let the canvassing smackdown begin:

Oh hey there, I’m a real person, please don’t hang up on me!

The biggest, and probably the most challenging difference between face to face fundraising and telefundraising is exactly that.  THE FACE. It may not seem so important, but there is a distinct challenge in trying to convey your passion for a charity when you can’t look at the donor straight in the face and let them see your hopes and dreams for a better future in your big, round, idealistic eyes.  When someone simply appears as a faceless voice over the phone…it’s hard to feel connected with a cause…and you become, in worse case scenarios, simply another voice to hang up on.

I’ve found the best way to connect with a potential donor over the phone, is to reconnect them with WHY THEY WANTED us to call them back in the first place.  I do this simply by asking them what the frontline canvasser said that inspired them to pursue the thought of monthly giving.  It’s amazing the amount of times I’ve heard surprise in a potential donor’s voice when I ask that question.  It’s as if they’re thinking “Whoa…wait a second…a telemarketer wants to hear what I think…not just talk over me when I say No, I’m not interested in a low-interest credit card?”  What results is an instant connection between two people, looking to find the best way to make their donorship possible, and we are no longer just some voice over the phone that wants something.

Stay tuned for the next installment of Canvassing Smackdown, including the entries:

Part 2: I realize there are a lot of scams out there Captain Skeptical, but I assure you, I won’t steal your identity.

Part 3: Although your answering machine message is clever, I would really love to talk to YOU.

By Erin