For many individuals, the fundamental goal of charitable giving is to see their donations bearing fruit. DDC OS Senior Client Relationship Manager, Tracie Webster explains how telephone fundraising has the power to take new and potential donors on a journey right to that point.

When businesses and consumers are approaching saturation point in terms of the sheer number of marketing messages they receive from brands every day, it takes a well considered campaign to break through.

While this statement would be unlikely to be listed alongside ‘rocket science’ in the dictionary of strategic marketing parlance; it’s certainly a good place to start. “Charities share a lot of the same core concerns when fundraising as other consumer brands do, the principal one being ‘how can we persuade a donor to connect with us?’,” says Tracie.

“We’ve dealt with a lot of charities who want to pursue a telephone fundraising campaign and the challenge is always to find a way that gets past the organisation itself and engages or connects the potential donor with the beneficiary of their gift.”

DDC OS has some experience in this regard, including an ambitious business-led telephone fundraising campaign it currently manages on behalf of the Churches Conservation Trust.

Using a database of around 2000 businesses, DDC OS has been charged by the CCT to enlist volunteers and groups from those businesses who would be prepared to raise money in the pursuit of a thrilling abseil down a Church Spire which the CCT continues to conserve.

This sponsored activity is firmly in keeping with the CCT’s core strategy; the conservation of Churches so that they can be used for the benefit of their communities. “We are aiming to engage the person picking up the phone, painting a picture of what it is that we want people to do and why, all within the first 20 seconds of the call,” says Tracie. “We have been able to convey those messages without spending a huge amount of time explaining the charity itself – the point was to have a conversation about the church and the communities that are benefitting from their sponsorship.”

Of course, very few telephone fundraising campaigns will begin with a request to hurl oneself off a building, but Tracie explains that this example illustrates their effectiveness. “The CCT has given us the perfect opportunity to bring donors into contact directly with the thing their charity is about; the churches. By using the right database of potential donors – younger, team oriented businesses for which a sponsored abseil would prove an excellent team building affair anyway – there was a good combination of targeting and product that makes this campaign a success.”

Tracie Webster is Senior Client Relationship Manager at DDC OS. Contact her at traciewebster@ddcos.com or +44 (0)1909 488600