The Annual Giving Exchange

Has your phonathon reached its limit?

If your prospective donor population always looks too large and your resources always seem to be too few, then the answer is probably no.  Don’t worry, you’re not alone.  The good news is that your phonathon has room to grow and probably deserves a greater investment of your time and budget.

But if you’re generating similar donor and dollar numbers year after year, or if you’re attempting the same prospect ten times without an answer, then your program may be saturated.

Endless growth is not a realistic expectation for a phonathon program.  If you think your program has reached its capacity, it might be a good time to refocus on quality instead of quantity.  Rather than making more calls, look for ways to make better calls.

Refine your staff recruiting systems, improve caller training, and concentrate on segments which are more likely to have positive returns.  Use callers to thank donors for recent gifts.  Conduct surveys.  Not all of these tactics will have immediate financial returns, but they may be the best way to advance the overall relationship with your donors if your phonathon program has reached its limit.