1. Phon-a-thonsmaximizing your (Big or Small) Phon-a-Thon Program with an automated Calling System Chad Hartman Director of Annual Giving High Point University Elizabeth Rivera Associate Director , Annual Giving UNC – Greensboro Mike Vosdingh Vice President, Software Division RuffaloCODY
2. High Point University – Program Overview Automated in Fall 2010 Database – WORK IN PROGRESS!! 15,000 Active Alumni 3,300 Parents 50 Manual Callers - 8 Automated Callers Schedule (Sept. – Nov.) (Feb. – Apr.) Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday 6:00 – 9:00pm Weekdays/2:00 – 5:00pm Sunday Budget
3. High Point University – Training, Training, Training 4 Day Training Program Night 1 - HPU Staff - Expectations, Paperwork, Schedule, Questions, Computer Training. Night 2 – Expectations of training and begin mock calling. Day 3 – Small group sessions focused on rapport and individual repetition. Day 4 – Small group sessions focused on caller reaction and specific objection scenarios.
4. High Point University – Operations 2 Teams split-up based on studentschedule 3 Supervisors – 1 per team and an alternate IP Phone System Instant Calling Statistics Employee Total and Completed Calls Total Nightly, Monthly, and Semester Dollars Incentives – Nightly, Weekly, and Semester
5. High Point University – Future of the Program Customer Focused, not User Focused Segmentation and Personalization Responsiveness and Follow-up Donor Acquisition Data Collection Invoice Processing
6. 6/1/2009 – 12/31/2010 Total $$ Gifts/Pledges - $61,381.00 Total Donors – 567 Average Gift - $108.25 Total $$ Gifts/Pledges - $69,919.00 Total Donors – 593 Average Gift - $117.90 127 Upgrades/79 First Time Gifts 550 Unspecified Pledges 4,722 Calls Completed/25% Completion Rate 8.43% Credit Card Gifts – 20% Goal 66.62% Contact Rate High Point University - Statistics 6/1/2010 – 12/31/2011
7. UNCG – Telefund Program Overview Automated Telefund in 1998 20 Callers, 4 Supervisors, 2 Monitors and 1 Telefund Coordinator - (Assistant Director position) 86,000 Alumni database and 12,000 Parent Fall schedule – September – December Spring schedule – January – May Will implement summer calling in 2011 Segment by each of the 7 schools/college and The Graduate School
8. UNCG – Telefund Program Overview Incentives At the beginning of the semester student callers are broken into teams of two. Each supervisor “manages” their team for the entire semester. Prizes are awarded on a nightly, weekly, monthly and semester basis. Supervisors utilize the “Online Statistics” report in CC – to report on team totals throughout the calling shift. Callers review their “Caller Statistics” report on the caller screen throughout the shift to ensure their stats are in par with their team.
9. UNCG – Implementation UNCG upgraded to CAMPUSCALL 3.2 in 2007. Attended RuffaloCody Software Users Group – received detailed training regarding transition. Trainer was brought the campus to meet and train with staff on 3.2. Benefits of transition include: Web interface – much faster Caller screen more user friendly Dialing more sophisticated
10. UNCG – Implementation Continued Benefits: OGI – we can now utilize 3rd party vendor for credit card transactions. Sophisticated Reporting Batch reports Multiple Daily, Monthly and Historic Reports UNCG will be transitioning to version 3.5 in Summer 2011 Focus on email acknowledgements Recurring payments via authorize.net
11. UNCG - Training 3 Day Training Program First night: Ice Breaker Student Caller Manual overview Explain the importance of student caller job UNCG trivia Second night: Review script Road maps – students come up with their own “elevator speech” Mock phone calls Objection responses
12. UNCG - Training Third night: Create teams/choose name Computer training Mock phone calls with returning callers while using computer Use specific scenarios for objection responses Sit by returning caller to hear actual phone call
13. UNCG – Ideas Utilize Telefund program for donor acquisition Secure email and business addresses via CAMPUSCALL – uploaded to Banner each day Personalized pledge reminder letters which include social media cards Focusing on less considers Calculated ask amounts Recognition societies and major gift information show up on the caller screen
14. UNCG – Statistics Dollars raised = $264,000 Number of pledges = 3,826 Average Pledge = $75 Credit Card % = 20% Upgrade = 30% Equal = 52% and Less = 19% Growth past three years Increased credit card % from 11% - 20% Increased avg. gift from $68 - $75 Increased pledge fulfillment from 62% to 76% Acquired 1,400 new donors
15. RuffaloCODY Benefits of Automation Increase Efficiency Technology Advances Reduced Clerical Time and Paperwork Increased Quality Other Benefits Segmentation Calling Pools Reporting
16. Phon-a-thon Challenges Each Call Counts! Caller Retention Database Management Cell Phones By 2012, 33% of households will be wireless only Telemarketing Legislation Caller ID IP Phone System
19. CONTACT INFORMATION Phon-a-thonsmaximizing your (Big or Small) Phon-a-Thon Program with an automated Calling System Elizabeth Rivera Associate Director , Annual Giving UNC – Greensboro esrivera@uncg.edu (336) 334-5812 Chad Hartman Director of Annual Giving High Point University chartman@highpoint.edu (336)841-9239 Mike Vosdingh Vice President, Software Division RuffaloCODY Mike.Vosdingh@ruffalocody.com (319) 730-2444 or (800) 756-7483
Editor's Notes
IntroductionHow many people are small schools – Alumni Database under 25,000? How many people are from large schools – Alumni Database over 25,000?How many people currently have a manual phonathon process?Interactive session – PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS!Begin story……
Automated our program in last fall after 15 years of manual callingDatabase15,0000 Active Alumni3,300 ParentsPhone Finder – Found 3,000 phone numbers (home, fax, cell phone)Began 2009 with 50 Callers and ended the fiscal year with 20. I had phone interviews with 125 students for 50 positions. We also hired 5 reserve students for schedule purposes.In the Fall we hired 22 students.-8 Call Stations (Good – Saving Money) (Bad – Loose the vibe and enthusiasm in the room)Budget2009 – Overall Budget - $26,0002010 – Overall Budget - $26,500 – Capital Expense2011 – Expected Budget - $18,000 2009 – Staff - $13,5002010 – Staff – $4,000 Largest two expenses – Trainer and Staff
Training, Training, TrainingNight One (1 ½ hrs.)-Expectations-Paperwork (w-2 and work study forms), Finalize student schedule and place students into teamsRuffaloCODY CAMPUSCALL system training.-Questions from studentsNight Two (3 hr training session)We used a company called Campbell and Campbell which provides develop consulting and phonathon trainers. Our trainer was Shaun Keister from Penn State University. AWESOME!! He brought a perspective from an outside school that set the expectations for students very high and really – SCARED THE STUDENTS! Fundamentals of communication and phonathon – Tone of voice, reactions to questions, and keeping focused on the task at hand. Some calls will take 7-10 minutes, others will take 45 minutes.Begin Mock CallingDay Three (4 – three hour sessions – 8-10 people each)-The topic for this day was RAPPORT – Mock Calling Scenarios -How long can you keep someone on the phone? We did not focus on amount of time, but asking quick and related questions.7-10 minutes phone calls = 90% better chance of getting a gift.Day Four (4 – three hour sessions – 8-10 people each)-Mocking with the focus on specific objectives - Divorce call - He recently passed away call - I hate what the university is doing call - I cannot believe you fired Dr. Smith
Customer Focused, not User Focused-Think about the donor as a client.-Will this process be easy for them – from initial phone call till they return their gift.-Making them feel good about the information they are providing and gift they are about to give.Segmentation and Personalization-Who are you calling? - Alumni (LYBUNTS, LAPSED) - Parents (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Seniors) - Reunions (Class of 1961) - Unspecified Pledges from Fall - Outstanding PledgesPersonalizationInstant Email from Student Caller48 hr Response Responsiveness and Follow-upDonor Acquisition -463 New DonorsData Collection - Matching Gifts - DatalinkInvoice Process - Tracking and Fullfillment
Each Call Counts!-Nightly Constructive Criticism – Manger and Student SupervisorsCaller Retention½ Semester EvaluationPromotionsDatabase Management What happens once the data is collected? – CriticalCell Phones Caller IDIP Phone System
