What do you get when you combine an old-school fundraising strategy – phone banking – with a new online platform like Zoom?

People working together – while also working remotely! – to engage their donors and raise more money.

Here’s a great example from Training for Change. Thanks to Zein Nakhoda (staff) and Sonia Silbert (board) for sharing their phone bank story.

Tell us about your group.

Training for Change is a training and capacity building organization for activists and organizers. We believe strong training and group facilitation is vital to movement-building for social justice and radical change.

We train thousands of people each year across issues and sectors – from campaign strategy retreats for anti-gentrification community groups and facilitation training for union leaders, to de-escalation skills for immigrant rights groups resisting deportation.

We bring our unique, experiential approach to our training for trainers workshops and ongoing programs.

Use the phone to build relationships

Why did you choose phone banking as a fundraising strategy? 

We have a very relational culture. We value relationships with groups we’ve worked with, workshop participants, and grassroots donors.

Phone banking creates an opportunity to have a personal conversation – to share what’s new, learn about our supporters, and ask for donations.

Who did you call? Were they notified in advance?

We called recent donors and workshop participants, after announcing the phone bank through our e-news.

Solid logistics generate success

Describe the logistics of setting up the phone bank through Zoom.

We conducted the phone bank using PowerBase, our database, which allowed us to create call lists and mark donor responses directly in our records. This required very little data entry.

Before launching the event, we assembled and trained a team of volunteers – board members, trainers, recent donors, and workshop participants – to join us on the phones.

We scheduled 12 two-hour call shifts spread over a month. Most shifts were weekday evenings; some were Saturdays mid-day. A staff member or volunteer leader hosted each shift.

Volunteer callers and hosts joined a Zoom video conference room. We used this platform to provide training, troubleshoot the donor list, and share progress. When making calls on our phones, we muted ourselves on Zoom but were still virtually and visually together, phone banking as a team.

Train your callers!

You’re a training organization first and foremost. How did you train your callers?

1) Volunteers were sent a short video demonstrating how to use PowerBase.

2) At the start of each shift, hosts demonstrated the software and answered questions. After an hour, we did a mid-point check-in to share fundraising totals and exchange tips.

3) We provided a call script for people to use and adapt. The script included information about our programs, instructions on how to donate, and suggestions for making an ask.

How did the call lists work?

Call lists were generated through PowerBase. When a volunteer caller signed on, they would see a batch of 15-20 people to call. After each call they would mark the result, such as “Left a voicemail,” “Wrong number,” or “Yes, will donate!”

Callers asked for pledges. We did not collect credit card information by phone, but rather encouraged people to donate online by credit card or mail us a check.

After each shift we tallied pledges. Staff sent follow-up emails to pledgers with a reminder about how to donate.

Measure your outcomes

Were you happy with the results?

Money. We set a Thrive Drive goal of $10,000. Before the launching the phone bank, we raised $3,500 from major donors to kick-start the campaign.

We raised an additional $7,564 through the phone bank, e-news, newsletters, social media, and word of mouth, for a total of $11,064. Victory! Four out of five donations ranged from $5 to $75.

Engagement. 40 volunteers filled 60 caller slots – including every board member and many of our Core Trainers.

We called roughly 1,000 people, left a lot of voice mail, and talked with 250 people – a 25% contact rate.

More conversations = better results

Next time, how will you make it better?

More conversations, fewer voicemails. One challenge is that donors see the phone number of a volunteer without knowing that we’re calling on behalf of Training for Change.

We’d like to use more text messages and find other ways to reach potential donors.

Some people pledged but never donated. We might encourage them to donate while we have them on the phone, or find other ways to make it easier to follow through.

Together, we’re more effective

What was the best part of the experience?

Hosting call shifts through video conference was a blast! Phone banking people can be challenging; doing it as team gave everyone a confidence boost.

This was also a great tool for skill-building, as callers shared strategies and tips in real time. Our team spirit sometimes kept us talking on Zoom long after the shift ended, with callers catching up and discussing how we’ve been impacted by Training for Change.

Try this strategy and see how it works for you!