Talking Back

— Lori Collins,
corporate vice president,
Focus USA
Hackensack, N.J.

Does your organization use the phone as a fundraising tool? What are the important lessons you’ve learned as a result?
— FS Advisor, Jan. 17, 2006

Some nonprofit organizations manage their direct-mail and telephone fundraising programs independently of each other, leading to inefficiencies that increase their donor-acquisition costs and often do not optimize total donation volume. We have found that by segmenting mail and phone donor files, and using the telephone to reactivate certain strategic segments of lapsed mail donors, many nonprofits increase total donation volumes while reducing acquisition costs. Nonprofits can also test the telephone channel to follow up acquisition and renewal mailings with careful segmentation strategies. By coordinating mail and phone efforts and appeal content, both
channels work more effectively together.