To Call or Not to Call? The Do's and Don'ts of Telemarketing Fundraising

Telemarketing often gets a bad rap from the general public. Visions of fundraisers or businesses cold-calling and interrupting dinner run through people's heads. The potentially annoying nature of telemarketing was even immortalized in an episode of "Seinfeld."

"I think many people think [telemarketing] is the ugly, redheaded stepchild of fundraising and acquisition," said Karin Kirchoff, vice president of direct-marketing agency MINDset Direct, during the recent FundRaising Success webinar, "Come One, Come All! — Smart Strategies for Multichannel Donor Acquisition."