How can charities efficiently steward their telephone fundraising campaign, while ensuring they are accurately represented? What must change to lower donor complaints? How can a script more personally connect with donors? Such questions led Gateway Communications founders, Tim Nashif and Mike White, to evaluate the telephone fundraising methods of that time. Gateway consulted with charities to provide ways of improving relationships with their donors. Tim and Mike felt certain there was an opportunity to utilize fundraising phone calls to achieve this.
They envisioned a team of callers who were passionate about the mission of the charity they represented, and so familiar with the charity the calls would hardly feel scripted. Their efforts to find a call center that met their expectations ultimately led them down a path of creating an in-house solution instead.
They designed a phone program that tracked data and created a system to collect pledges through mail follow up. They also developed extensive sensitivity and empathy training for their callers that remains in use today. Each fundraising campaign involved specific training so that the callers were well educated on the operation and mission they represented. These calls were remarkably personal and natural. A donor often assumed they were speaking with a staff member from the charity, not a third party. These calls drastically reduced donor complaints and elevated donor relations.
The success of this method reached other local charities who began to ask if Gateway Communications would handle their phone campaigns as well. A small network began to grow. The concept was taken nationally as food banks, rescue missions, animal shelters, children’s hospitals, and other charitable organizations around the country began to seek out these services.
2022 marks thirty years of Gateway Communications serving the mission of hundreds of charities nationwide through telephone fundraising. Its donor-centric values and commitment to foster and strengthen donor relations through honesty, compassion and understanding continues to set Gateway apart.
“We take relationships seriously. As culture trends more toward impersonal forms of communication, we have the opportunity to really amaze someone when they speak to an authentic person on the other end of the phone who genuinely cares about the purpose of the charity they are representing,” said Mark Nashif, Call Center Director at Gateway Communications.
This relationship-first approach results in high ROIs, recaptured lapsed donors, an increased number of monthly sustainers, and building rapport between the charity and donor. Each campaign is carefully tailored to raise awareness, and each script written to capture the voice of that organization. These calls are memorable long after a campaign is finished.
Gateway Communications has found telephone fundraising more advantageous now than ever. As home offices and working remotely have become a norm, donors are answering their phones more. The success of Gateway Communications provides evidence that their telephone fundraising technique remains relevant and essential. To find out how Gateway Communications can best serve your fundraising needs, contact Kyle Dickinson at kyle@gatewayci.com or 503-257-0100.
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