Phoning donors and soliciting donations can seem daunting, especially for first-timers, but it doesn’t have to be! This workshop will endeavor to provide participants the tools they need to plan and implement successful phone banks, empower volunteers and non-fundraisers to confidently pick up the phone and secure donations, and continue to cultivate relationships with donors after the call has ended.

This presentation will walk through the steps a fundraiser needs to take to organize a phone fundraising campaign from start to finish, from donor list segmentation, recruiting and orienting volunteers, setting achievable goals and empowering callers to meet them. We will also discuss how phone banks can be incorporated into larger campaign efforts, and be paired with other fundraising tactics to yield even greater results.

The presentation will cover the following topics:

• How to create a phone bank plan and campaign timeline from start to finish, and how to incorporate them into overall fund drive strategy.
• How to provide volunteer and non-fundraising professionals the tools they need to start soliciting donations and create donor connections, and provide encouragement and motivation as they make calls.
• How to continue to steward donors, and utilize the connection made from phone bank calls as donor touchpoints.

Participants will receive a packet of example materials, including an example timeline, volunteer recruitment email, phone/voicemail script, and examples of email follow-up.

Learning Objectives:

• Create a phone fundraising campaign strategy from start to finish, and provide a checklist of tasks necessary to throw a successful series of phone banks.
• Be equipped to train volunteers and non-fundraisers to confidently make fundraising call.
• Provide space to practice solicitation calls.

About the Speaker:
Nina took their first steps into Development back in 2018, when Street Roots hired them as the Street Roast Coordinator. Over the following year, Nina moved into a full-time position that eventually became responsible for managing phone banks efforts, and since 2020 has been including phone bank series as an evergreen fundraising strategy in every annual fund drive. They continue to be moved by the powerful connections volunteers and other non-fundraisers create with donors when affirming a mutual belief in the organization’s mission and work.