0414 fund calls monograph sample

M O N O G R A P H

SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISING CALLS: A PHONATHON SCRIPTING WORKSHOP

By

Jessica Neno Cloud, CFRE Assistant Director for Fundraising Initiatives and Planned Giving The University of Southern Mississippi Foundation

FOREWORD Some voices in higher-ed fundraising have been tempted in recent years to declare that “phonathon is dead.” Certainly the phonathon operates within an increasingly challenging environment. Fewer alumni own landlines, more alumni have advanced caller ID systems, and it can be difficult to maintain an accurate database of cell numbers.

Yet, when done well, the phonathon remains the most cost-effective way to renew LYBUNT gifts and convert new donors.

In recent years, more institutions have invested in advanced automated calling systems to ensure callers get in touch with a high number of prospects and secure a high volume of gifts and pledges during each call shift. However, without effective scripting, these calls are not impactful and the return on investment could be minimal.

That’s why Academic Impressions offers a series of two monographs to help you ensure that your annual fund calls are successful.

TRAINING CALLERS THROUGH SCRIPTING Our 2011 monograph by Albert Melfo (Kent State University), offers a structured approach to training callers to respond on the fly to the ebb and flow of a conversation with a prospect. What is unique about Melfo’s approach is his focus on call center scripting not just as a template but as a training tool for callers.

In Melfo’s report, you will learn about:

Tips for training and scripting the five stages of an effective call

Tips for coaching callers to respond to concerns that prospects voice

You can learn more about Melfo’s guide to call training at: h t t p : // w w w. a c a d e m i c i m p r e s s i o n s . c o m / m o n o g r a p h / scripting-and-training-effective-fundraising-calls

A PHONATHON SCRIPTING WORKSHOP The 2014 monograph you are currently reading offers you not only one phonathon expert’s pillars for a solid solicitation call, but also a full scripting workshop. An array of institutions submitted their sample scripts to Academic Impressions and Jessica Neno Cloud (University of Southern Mississippi) for critique and revision.

In this monograph:

Review those sample LYBUNT, SYBUNT, and future donor scripts

Read and explore Cloud’s in-depth critique of the samples

View revisions of the sample scripts

Cloud also revises sample scripts for special donor populations, including young alumni and parent prospects. In each case, Cloud offers thorough commentary on how she revised each script to ensure callers would move through the call efficiently while still connecting with the prospect in a meaningful way and, most importantly, securing a gift.

The only resource of its kind, this monograph brings a low-cost scripting workshop directly to your office.

BONUS RESOURCES This monograph also offers:

A quiz for use in assessing your current scripts

Instructions for 15 call center games

Cloud’s advice on whether to use a “permission question,” whether to train callers to leave voicemail, and how to develop your annual call center calendar

AUTHOR JESSICA NENO CLOUD, CFRE Assistant Director for Fundraising Initiatives and Planned Giving The University of Southern Mississippi Foundation Jessica Cloud has nearly fifteen years of fundraising experience with an emphasis in annual fund solicitation—beginning as a student caller with her alma mater, The University of Southern Mississippi (USM). In 2011, after working with RuffaloCODY and the University of South Carolina for five years, she returned to her alma mater to administer a comprehensive annual giving program for USM. In one year, she increased the total dollars raised by over 300%, and in three years she increased the number of first-time donors by 285%. During her tenure, the total number of yearly donors to the USM Foundation has increased from about 3,000 to over 8,000. In 2012, she launched the first faculty-staff giving campaign for USM, and employee giving rose from 10% to over 32% in three months.

She practices evidence-based fundraising with a focus on return on investment. Jessica currently works as the assistant director for fundraising initiatives and planned giving, but retains supervision over the annual fund at USM.

TABLE OF CONTENTS AN INTRODUCTION TO MY APPROACH

18

PART 1: THE COMPONENTS OF A SOUND SCRIPT

22

PART 2: SAMPLE SCRIPTS “BEFORE” AND “AFTER”

54

PART 3: HANDOUTS AND TEMPLATES

142

APPENDICES

158

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Academic Impressions | Successful Fundraising Calls: A Phonathon Scripting Workshop

QUICK QUIZ: ASSESS YOUR SCRIPTS

Before reading this monograph and scripting guide, let’s take a moment to check in on your current approach to scripting.

1.

Does your script/policy require callers to do at least three distinct asks if the prospect is objecting? a. No way, we trust our callers to make the right

decision and not pressure prospects. b. We require it, but we don’t monitor it through

write-ups or other disciplinary action. c. Yes, absolutely. Callers must overcome objections

and ask for the next level.

2. Do you allow open-ended or soft asks without an amount? a. Yes. As long as they are asking, the amount is not important. b. If the prospect sounds mad or needs to speak to

his or her spouse, sometimes we do. c. No. An ask is constituted of a direct question and

an exact dollar amount.

3. Which of these sounds most like the rapport section of your calls? a. I am not sure what our rapport currently sounds like. b. “Last year, ABU was rated #1 in biological

sciences research by the American Society

for awesome biological stuff…..” c. “Did you know that ABU continues to get more

accolades? For instance we were recently named

#1 for biological sciences research.”

Academic Impressions | Successful Fundraising Calls: A Phonathon Scripting Workshop

d.

“I see you graduated in biology. Do you still work in that field? Wow. That’s interesting! Well, you’ll be pleased to know that we recently named #1 in biological sciences research. Isn’t that great?”

4. What percentage of your callers would know what an “assumptive” credit card ask sounds like? a. Huh? What is an assumptive ask? 0% b. Some of the best ones. Maybe 40% c. Any caller that has been around awhile. Over 80% d. All our callers are required to follow an

assumptive ask structure. 100% 5. How would you rate the transition between the rapport and first ask in your script? a. We let the callers figure that out. It’s important

that the rapport be natural. b. It’s a little clunky. Sometimes when I am coaching,

that part feels awkward. c. Pretty solid. We try to tie the fantastic things

going on at our school to the need for private support.

Scoring For every A, give yourself 1 point.

For each B you marked, give yourself 2 points.

For every C give yourself 3 points For every D give yourself 4 points.

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Academic Impressions | Successful Fundraising Calls: A Phonathon Scripting Workshop

5-8 POINTS Your scripts need some work. The scripts don’t provide callers with enough structure for them to feel confident and comfortable asking for money. If you are not requiring three asks or enforcing the delivery of those asks, you are leaving money on the table for your institution. Your alums might not be enjoying these calls as much as they could.

Your callers are in danger of becoming de-motivated because they aren’t seeing success.

9-11 POINTS You are on the right track. Your scripts may be having trouble striking that balance between over-scripting and not providing adequate guidance for transitions or special circumstances. Some key tweaks to your system and scripts could result in huge improvements in revenue and fundraising success for your institution. Your callers might need a little boot-camp to get them on board but they’ll thank you as they begin raising lots of money and having a great time at work.

12-17 POINTS Way to go! Your scripts are making it happen! You might need to freshen up key sections, like rapport, your credit card ask, or your transitions. But, you have a great foundation from which to build. Perhaps most of what you need is to put a great coaching and pledge verification system in place to make sure that your awesome script is being put to use in calls. Rock on!

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Academic Impressions | Successful Fundraising Calls: A Phonathon Scripting Workshop

AN INTRODUCTION TO MY APPROACH

Academic Impressions | Successful Fundraising Calls: A Phonathon Scripting Workshop

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I received an email on a student listserv in 1999 advertising a job, called Development Intern, making fundraising calls on campus. I thought, “They’ll pay me to talk to people? Cool.” I responded and was hired. On my first night of work I was excited but also a little nervous.

My training was, “Sit down behind Julie, and when you feel ready, get on the phone.”

There was no script, no training, no strategy, no support and ultimately—few or no gifts.

Over the next few years, I got a new boss and became a student supervisor. We researched best practices, experimented with new strategies, and implemented new policies. Each time my boss came back with a new technique, we would balk. Surely, asking more than once would scare away every potential donor, right? Wrong. Gifts poured in. Naturally, a $100 first ask would cause every single donor to hang up on us. Nope. Our average gift doubled. Requiring a credit card ask would cause all the callers to quit, we thought. Actually, it improved retention and job satisfaction. By the time I graduated, I had learned to trust the method.

I didn’t know it at the time, but these experiences were teaching me the practices of “evidence-based fundraising” – meaning not trusting anecdotes or omens of doom but rather testing and trusting what actually raises the dollars.

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Academic Impressions | Successful Fundraising Calls: A Phonathon Scripting Workshop

A word about testing As my career progressed, I worked as a MASTERS site manager for RuffaloCODY, a role which taught me even more about evidencebased fundraising and its application for phonathon. The techniques in this monograph come from nearly fourteen years of “boots-onthe-ground” phonathon experience.

These techniques work. If you feel yourself balking at one or more of these recommendations, I encourage you to test the technique.

Make sure to use control groups with a similar demographic of prospects and only change one variable at a time.

For instance, if you want to test a new leadership ask level, you should take a group of similarly tenured and talented callers and divide them into two testing groups. Have them call the same group of prospects on Sunday afternoon, Monday night, and Tuesday night (to neutralize your results for time of day and day of the week). One group calls with the new leadership ask level and the other uses your normal level. Track your average gift and analyze the statistics by each caller group you created. Once you know which ask level works best for raising average gift, you can implement the better technique on the entire call floor.

Don’t take anything I say on faith. Use what works. I want to put forward this method for your consideration and challenge you to be open to new ideas.