Ask ladders will vary depending on your audience and the giving history of your donors.

I suggest basing asks for current and recently lapsed donors off of their last gift.

For long lapsed and non-donors,

base the ask ladder off of the research of your organization's giving.

What is the average first gift?

What is the average first gift based on age?

Do you have information on the probability of giving or their capacity to give?

If so, use that information.

Here are some examples of Ask ladders.

For higher probability donors,

start with a leadership annual giving ask of $1,000

or even $2,500 and move down the ladder,

or start with a $500 ask or a $250 ask and move down the ladder.

Use your data and research to inform where you

start and adjust during your calling campaign if needed.

If a preponderance of people are hanging up on the first ask of a $1,000,

and your average phone pledge is $250,

change your ask ladder to start at $500.

Learn from your efforts and adjust when needed.

A three-ask ladder is also an option.

While I've typically used a four-ask strategy to

allow the callers time to build a case for support,

some audiences respond better to a shorter call.

Maybe you have a constituency that prefers getting to the point not wasting time,

or your average gift is $100 or less and you have

a low ask ladder that starts at $250 or $100,

and there isn't room for four asks.

Some examples would include,

starting at $1,000, moving down to $500,

and then doing an open ask,

or maybe starting at $250,

going to $100, and then an open ask.

There's also a formula you can use when building ask ladders.

In this case, I would say three times the last gift,

1.5 times the last gift,

and then an open ask,

would be a good example.

As I mentioned earlier,

test different strategies and see what works best for your audience.

If you're using a four-ask strategy and getting a lot of hang-ups,

lower the first ask and move to a three-ask ladder.

If you're getting a lot of yeses on the first ask,

you should increase your ask ladder because this indicates your ask is too low.

When you're looking at your data,

consider upgrades and build that into your ask ladder as well.

Always ask for more than they gave last year to start,

even if it's a small amount more.

You also need to be aware that there's a fine line between

successful callers and aggressive callers.

One will garner you great results,

the other will garner you significant complaints.

So, you need to train your callers to hear when a donor or

prospect is getting irritated or frustrated.

If they hear anger,

they need to back off on the ask ladders rather than following the script to the end.

If you hear frustration or someone is getting angry,

you need to stop pushing so hard.

Thank the donor for their time and consideration,

for updating their information,

and let them know you hope they'll continue to stay connected with your organization.

So, we're almost to the finish line.

The donor said, yes.

Now, we need to close the call and secure the gift.

Not all organizations can take credit cards when securing a pledge.

But if you can, it's the best way to go.

It will save you time and resources on the back

and it's a guaranteed fulfillment on the spot.

You'll see on the slide a brief example of a closing script.

These are the areas you need to cover when you close the call for a pledge.

Always thank the donor and confirm the gift amount.

Secure the gift by credit card if possible.

If it isn't, shared with the donor they will be receiving

pledge fulfillment information by email or mail and tell them when to expect it.

Ask the donor if they work for

a matching gift company and encourage them to participate If they do.

Then, thank them again for their generosity and support, and end the call.

So, you've closed a call with a successful pledge. What do you do now?

Strong fulfillment rates are the key to success through the phone channel,

not just getting someone to say yes.

You need to follow up in a thankful and timely manner.

If you can follow up immediately with a thank you

email on information on how to fulfill their gift,

either by mail or online, this is optimal.

You'll also need to follow up within a week with

a pledge acknowledgement in the mail that includes a pledge card and a return envelope.

In the letter, thank them for their pledge.

Again, list the amount of the pledge,

and what it's going towards and give them contact information if they have questions.

As I mentioned, always include a reply device and a return envelope.

You need to make it easy for your donor to give,

and you need to have an effective tool for tracking the gifts coming in,

so you can apply them to the pledges appropriately.

One of the best ways to stop a donor from giving again,

is to ask them to pay a pledge that they've already paid.

Many donors don't fulfill their pledges after the first pledge acknowledgement.

Building a system of regular pledge reminders will help

you sustain a high level of pledge fulfillment.

A 30, 60 and 90-day reminder system are pretty standard,

similar to invoicing and billing statements.

I've also heard of e-mail reminders mixed into the hard copy reminders,

which is a great idea if you have the resources.

An example would be an email reminder of 45 days with

their pledge information and a link to give directly to what they've pledged.

It isn't a good practice to solicit your donors with current open pledges.

For example, if a donor makes a pledge for $250 in October and you

solicit them again at the end of November for

another gift when they have fulfilled their pledge,

you risk losing that pledge.

Wait for the pledge to be paid then add them back

into your second ask population later in the year.

If they don't fulfill their pledge during the regular pledge reminder period,

you can make a last ditch effort at the end of the year to encourage them to fulfill.

If they don't, you write off the pledge and start fresh.

There's no need to carry an open pledge for more than a fiscal year.

And some organizations write them off more quickly,

like maybe at 120 days or 180 days.

And as a final note, if you have a donor who continually pledges and doesn't fulfill,

consider removing them from your phone channel.

After you've gotten the pledge and it's been paid,

use your phone resources for stewardship.

A thank you call, especially to new donors, can be priceless.

Build these calls into your strategy and include

your leadership annual donors in the mix if you have the ability.

Ideally, a thank you call to every donor would be in every non-profit strategy.

But time and resources dictate what we can achieve.

If you have to choose,

call new donors and leadership annual donors.

Retention rates of donors who've received thank-you calls can be

as much as 40 percent higher than those that didn't receive a call,

even if you're just leaving a voicemail.

Retention is even higher if you can make a live thank-you call.

So, you've decided to incorporate thank-you calls into your strategy.

Now, you need to think about who makes those calls.

This will really vary depending on your organization.

If you have a board and they're willing,

this is a great tool.

Penelope Burke researched this very topic,

and found that if a board member makes a thank you call

within 24 hours of the organization receiving a gift,

those donors gave 39 percent more

than those who didn't receive a call the next time they gave.

After 14 months, those called were giving 42 percent more than those that weren't called.

If you don't have a board,

assign staff members to make calls,

student employees, interns, or other volunteers.

If you have a call center,

build thank-you calls into their regular schedule.

Try to make your thank-you calls as soon after the gift as possible.

For some organizations, you may have the luxury of calling within a day or two of a gift.

I think building a system of weekly reports for this,

would be more than adequate,

and some may even choose to run a monthly report for calling.

Please remember that it needs to be a timely acknowledgement and thank you for the gift.

So, don't wait too long between the gift and the thank-you call.

While calling can be a great resource,

telephone outreach has its challenges as well.

Contact rates are dropping because of the decline of home phones and caller ID,

smartphones and cell phones are the norm,

and while many are keeping their cell phone numbers forever now,

those numbers are hard to get.

And how many people don't answer their cell phone when they don't recognize the number?

I can tell you it's a lot.

Whether you manage a volunteer calling effort or a robust in-house calling program

that runs throughout the year,

it requires a substantial investment of time and resources.

You also have the challenges and additional work involved with fulfilling pledges.

Even with the challenges though,

the phone can be a great tool for annual giving solicitation.

You just need to weigh the challenges against the rewards,

before launching into a phone solicitation program.

To summarize, the phone is a great tool for annual giving solicitation.

If you implement phone into your annual giving strategy,

plan and research well, use accurate data,

use the call to keep data up to date,

build a good script and appropriate ask ladders,

and follow up with a systematic pledge reminder process.

Whether you use paid callers, your own staff,

or volunteers, make sure you give the callers the tools they need to be successful.

If you do, you will have great ambassadors helping

to keep your audience engaged with your organization.

Using Telemarketing Overview (Part 2)

Annual Campaigns: Building a Case for Support

Meet the Instructors