Train your volunteers. Let your volunteers know what's expected of them, and give them the pointers they need to be most successful. Pick your most effective volunteers from previous phonathons to be your trainers. Prepare them to handle difficult calls, and give them tips for what to do when the voice mail kicks on. Effective training means effective callers.
Support them with a script. A script heightens volunteers' comfort level, giving them the key points you don't want them to forget to relay in the phone call.
"I go over the script with all callers the evening of the phonathon," says Michael Larson, Director of Development at The Fay School (TX). "I make sure we have a conversation before they start their calls."
Consider creating three different scripts: one for those being called for the first time, one for previous donors who did not give the previous year, and one for consistent givers. Make sure your campaign goal is mentioned early in the script to emphasize the challenge, and describe how the students will benefit from the gift right off, too.
For more script tips, and to see The Fay School's sample script, click here.
Make a connection. "In my mind, the most important piece is getting the callers to recognize and make a connection with some of the outcomes from last year's Annual Fund," says Larson. "Every caller can make a connection to something the Annual Fund accomplished, and that excitement can be used during the calls."
It is also ideal to connect through peer-to-peer experience. Have parents of a 10th-grader call other 10th-grade parents. The optimal situation is to have callers contact those who know each other and have shared experiences. For parents who don't have this type of peer-to-peer experience, make sure your callers have the child's name and grade, the parent's occupation, and any volunteer activities the parent is involved in at the school.
Taking these extra steps could mean a big boost in your phonathon results.
