On the Line...with Jason Fisher

Handling Sensitive Unemployed Objections

The United States GDP numbers came out this morning.  As expected, the economy contracted by .3% and unemployment figures shot up by another 479,000.  This economy is headed towards very difficult times where even a college degree may not completely guarantee a decent income.

 

But amid the sobering news, let’s be honest.  Not every alum who tells the phonathon they are unemployed is truly unemployed, completely out of work, and destitute.  Callers tend to immediately imagine the worst case scenario.  The fact is, some alumni simply use this as a reason to get callers off the phone.  And while they may not be outright lying, many might exaggerate their current situation to avoid giving back.  This is where great listening skills and communication ability really make a difference.

 

Callers that contact alumni in this situation need to be sensitive and careful with how they approach the remainder of the call.    As fundraisers, we cannot just give up every time somebody tells us they cannot afford to give.  If that were the case, our results would be no better than direct mail.  The key is negotiating toward a mutually convenient amount while maintaining good rapport and listening to what the prospect tells them.  If the initial response is very negative and the prospect sounds upset, the caller has the option to end the call.  If the reaction is mild and the prospect seems disappointed or apologizes for not being able to help, the call should continue.  The latter response is what I call a “soft” unemployment objection, and I teach the callers to overcome this and continue with the call.  Sometimes there is no mutually convenient amount to agree upon, but the caller never knows that unless they respectfully give that prospect every opportunity to give.

 

Scripting a solid response that both acknowledges the prospect’s situation and allows the caller to continue responsibility will improve the results of the phonathon.  Here’s a short technique I teach my callers to overcome “soft” unemployed objections. 

 

I can certainly understand Mr. /Ms. ______.  I’ve actually spoken with several other alumni who, like yourself, are interested but have not been able to help with that size of a contribution due to their current employment situation.  However, because our alumni understand that this fund is such an important and crucial part of the success of their alma mater, many have chosen to support at a more modest level that is much easier on their financial situation, yet allows them to get involved in the campaign.  The size of the gift is secondary to your participation towards this effort.  Will you join your fellow alumni with a gift of $______ this evening?

 

If the caller is still unable to secure a pledge, be sure to share the phone number of the school’s alumni career services office with the prospect.  It’s a good way to reach out and offer help to the alum for their current situation while avoiding an abrupt end to the call that makes them feel the call was just about getting their money.  Remember, being unemployed can be seasonal and completely expected.  And spouses also have income as well that sometimes insulates the family from bumps in the road.  Callers cannot and should not assume that every unemployed objection means a quick end to the call.  Teach the callers to use their listening skills to differentiate between prospects whose situation is dire and those who are using it as a mild excuse.  If the calls are handled correctly, you will secure more pledges from unemployed prospects than you may think possible.  And in the process, you teach the callers that giving up is not an option.

For Best Results: Don't Leave a Message After the Beep

Answering machines and voice mails have become a staple in today’s busy life.  I’m not sure how society ever got along without being able to leave messages.  But as convenient and necessary as they are, they don’t really do much for phonathon programs.  In fact, leaving messages prior to the very last pass through the records can actually hurt productivity.  Here’s why I recommend that phonathons avoid leaving messages.

 

Leaving messages alerts the prospect as to the reason for our phone call.  Most alumni, parents, and friends are wise to the game of phonathon solicitation.  Once they know why we are calling, and hear that we are planning to call back, they will just avoid picking up the phone and may screen our calls.  Granted, Caller ID lets them know it’s the institution before we leave the message, and they may very well guess what the call is about.  But giving them confirmation of our intentions may be the tipping point they need to avoid being solicited altogether.  Remember that it’s never a good time to be asked for money, and some people do not like to tell callers no.  If they can avoid the solicitation and having to feel guilty about rejecting a college student, they may very well opt for the easy way out.

 

Prospects who do answer the phone the second time around will be ready for our solicitation.  Letting them know our intentions helps them harden a response to our solicitation, making it more difficult for the caller to overcome the objection.  They become more set in their ways.  Whatever ability the caller may have had in negotiating is effectively neutralized because the prospect is thinking ahead of time about how to tell us no.  Persuading the prospect is simply more difficult when they know what is coming. 

 

Granted, the negative productivity difference may only be slightly noticeable, but I can promise that it does exist.  The number of contacts (solicitations) the callers are able to make during the night will decrease and objections they receive are likely to become more difficult to overcome.  After many years of doing this, I can tell you that phonathon is a game played at the margins.  To be productive in today’s world of increased technology, we need every advantage we can get.  Showing our cards before we play the hand does not make for good business practices.  It simply takes away from opportunities to raise money and acquire donor support.  Whatever slight stewardship benefit the institution may get from leaving messages is completely overridden by lower productivity.  And whatever element of surprise we still have in the age of Caller ID is useless if we tell them why we’re calling before we are able to ask them for a gift.  For this reason, I believe leaving messages leads directly to leaving money on the table.

 

To Call or Not to Call...It's Not Much of a Question

Election Day and Super Bowl Sunday present unique challenges to phonathon programs.  For most of the day, the entire nation is fixed upon the television or keeping up with events on their computers.  Phone calls are considered an intrusion and callers are treated as intruders.  While it’s generally a good day to reach people (because they’re often at home), it’s a lousy day to keep their attention and build good relationships.

 

While these two days present the largest challenges to calling programs, others can also present occasional issues.  Presidential debates or addresses usually have the same effect as the election because they happen during primetime television.  Halloween calls can be a nuisance for alumni who split time answering the door and answering the phone.  And Valentines Day calls can sometimes provide untimely interruptions as well. 

 

Weather events, such as snowstorms or hurricanes, are usually very serious for the colleges and universities within the region being affected, but often do not alter the calling of schools outside of that area unless a large percentage of their alumni population lives in that vicinity.  In that case, the phonathon can block affected alumni from receiving those solicitations and calling can likely continue unless the event is so severe that it engulfs the media’s attention.  Hurricane Katrina did this for the schools that happened to be calling on August 29 and 30, 2005.  I’ve been a part of a few national crisis’ that stopped calling immediately, including three wars and September 11.  But for the most part, those are unforeseen and the decision to cease calling activity is very easy.

 

During this historic election, with voter turnout expected to be the highest it has been in the last several decades, it goes without saying that calling on Election Day would be asking for a series of objections and perhaps even a little scorn from your prospects.  I usually am very pragmatic about these decisions with the schools I advise, understanding that each institution handles the choice about whether they call very differently.  But in this situation, I have little reservation in offering my suggestion that all phonathon programs in the United States shut it down for a day.  Any calling time missed on November 4th can be made up later in the year on a Friday or perhaps a Sunday afternoon shift.  Your productivity will likely be much better and your alumni much happier.  Plus, for those states whose polls don't close until late, your alumni might still be standing in line.  Just ask the folks from North Carolina pictured below who stood in line for hours for early voting last week!

 

 

Increasing Employer Matching Gift Results During a Recession

Conventional wisdom tells us that during a recession or prolonged period of decreased economic growth, that one of the first things companies cut back on is the matching gift programs they offer to their employees.  But before we write off the possibilities, let me share this with you.

 

I recently spoke with Steve Hafner, Founder and CEO of HEP Development Services, a company dedicated to improving matching gift numbers on college and university campuses.  Steve told me that in the past several years, the number of companies offering matching gift programs to their employees increased from around 14,000 to around 16,000, or about 14% higher.  And while it’s possible that companies may decrease the benefits they pay out under these programs in the coming months during the economic downturn, it’s unlikely that a large percentage will eliminate their program altogether.  He told me now is not the time for higher education to pull back from concentrating on matching gifts, it’s actually the time “to do more with less”.  That means continuing to dedicate resources in the annual giving office to identify and follow up on potential matching gifts.  And it means the phonathon has a significant role to play.

 

When it comes to increasing matching gift results in phonathon, first and foremost is the age old axiom that if “we don’t ask, we don’t receive”.  But it also goes to the heart of how we go about this process.  Teaching callers the proper way to conduct this part of their job is very important in seeing a significant sum of money from matching gifts.  I’ll share the following passage on asking for matching gifts from the book I wrote with Anthony Arrington, The Phonathon Manager’s Planning Handbook.

 

Below are two questions that are scripted to ask for matching gifts.  Both are commonly seen in phonathon pledge closes.  However, only one is scripted correctly.

     

Correct: “Would you or your spouse work for a company that would match this commitment?” 

 

Incorrect: “Do you or your spouse work for a matching gift company?”

 

The incorrect version could easily be interpreted as asking the prospect what “type” of company they work for, such as a “computer” company, “pharmaceutical” company, “engineering” company, etc., when the real purpose was to find out if their place of employment will donate to your institution at an amount equal to or greater than their employee’s donation.  An incorrectly phrased matching gift question could cost the institution the chance for additional revenue.

 

The correct version asks whether the company they work for has a matching gift program.  It is a small difference in verbiage, but a major difference in meaning.  This verbiage also sets the caller up to explain the details of a matching gift.  Remember that the prospect may be unaware of what a matching gift program is and how to go about the process of securing it and sending it back.

 

Listen to how callers ask the matching gift question during coaching and be sure to correct them when you hear it phrased improperly.  If the prospect is unsure whether their company matches, the caller can refer to their list of matching gift companies via the appropriate list that management provides to determine if a matching opportunity exists.  When the caller receives a matching gift they should be sure the prospect understands how to acquire the paperwork from their employer to send it back.  This is helpful to include in the pledge close as a reminder for the caller to not assume that the prospect knows how to go about this process.

 

The industry average for matching gifts is about 6-10% of the total dollars raised.  However, I have yet to find many programs that are reaching their full potential with this figure.  There is usually significant room for improvement in how callers are asking for the matching gift.  In today’s difficult economy, phonathon is a game played ever closer to the margins.  To achieve your goal, there is little room for error.  It stands to reason that now is the time to put a concerted effort behind properly asking for matching gifts.  It could be the difference between celebrating at the end of the fiscal year or scratching your head wondering what went wrong.

Are US News and World Report Rankings Effective in Phonathon Scripts?

I have reviewed hundreds of calling scripts in the past several years, and have written or re-written more than my fair share as well.  Most calling scripts are similar in structure and style, with the same basic reasons for giving- library acquisitions, scholarships, faculty enrichment, research, and technology improvements.  But somewhere buried in the second or third ask (and sometimes the first ask) of many of these scripts is the US News and World Report ranking for that particular school.  And certainly, the rankings are often impressive.  But do they work in motivating alumni to give?  And should we use them in our calling scripts when we have just a few minutes in each presentation to state our case?  Let me attempt to answer my own questions.

 

First, let me say that I have used US News and World Report rankings in some of the scripts I have written in the past.  But I stopped using them on a regular basis a few years ago, as I found the reasoning was growing less effective each year.  The rankings in donor segments may have some positive effect in highlighting the value of the alumni’s previous investment.  But in nondonors, I’m not sure talking about the rankings has much of an impact on the results at all.  Here’s why- Alumni are less inclined to give if they think the institution is doing just fine without their support.  The question to ask ourselves when writing this into our scripts is -What’s the motivating factor to give for the first time when we are giving them the impression that things are going so well?

 

I believe alumni need to be challenged to give, not just asked.  They need to be told that their support is more than just appreciated, it is crucial to the success of the school.  Most people have a fairly limited philanthropic budget each year.  They want to give to a program or organization that needs their support, and they want their gift to make a difference.  Some people give out of a sense of appreciation and loyalty, but those people are probably already in your donor pool.  To get the new donors on board, we need to be persuasive and assertive in stating our case.  For example:

 

Your investment in this campaign is a crucial component for the school to maintain and increase the tradition of academic excellence.  Alumni support of the Annual Fund directly impacts the quality of the educational experience here at XYZ University by providing new technology and equipment in our classrooms that effectively prepares our students for the competitive workforce they will face after graduation.  Simply put, we need your support this year.  We are asking all alumni to get involved in this campaign.  Can we count on your support tonight with a leadership level gift of $_____?

 

The emphasis in the above example is on all alumni getting involved.  And we directly state to them that we need their support.  Without directly challenging them, we invite them to skip participating again this year.  Alumni are essentially investing in the future of the school with their contribution to the annual fund.  That’s the problem I have with using US News and World Report rankings as a stand-alone reason to give- it’s backwards-looking.  To effectively convince alumni that this is a worthwhile investment for them to get involved (in many cases for the first time), we need to challenge them to give in a positive fashion and effectively convince them to do something they would not otherwise do on their own.  While US News and World Report rankings are a nice compliment for a calling script as an example of progress, I feel they should never be used as a substitute for the important needs and reasons every campaign is facing during challenging and competitive times.

Using Student Callers to Update Cell Phones is a Smart Investment

It's long been a standard industry-best practice for callers to update demographic information as part of their calling responsibilities.  Addresses, employment information, and more recently e-mail addresses have been the norm.  But to keep up with the increasingly difficult assignment of staying in touch with alumni, parents, and friends, callers now need to be assertively capturing cell phone numbers from prospectsto stay ahead of the curve and maximize the chances for maintaining and improving phonathon results.  There are a few main reasons for this:

1)  Stating the obvious, cell phones are replacing land lines across all demographic groups, but most prevalently withyoung alumni.  Other than Internet based phone lines through the cable company or Vonage, how many people age 30 or under do you know that hook up land lines?  Maybe a few, but the vast, vast majority are using cell-phone only technology.  If we are to grow our programs effectively and target donor acquisition as a major goal, then we need to stack our development databases with cell phone numbers since phonathon is the primary donor acquisition tool in annual giving.

2) Phone number portability laws, contracts, and unlimited minutes (an increasing trend in most cell phone company plan portfolios) mean that most people transfer their numbersto another carrier rather than disconnect service and sign up when they move.  I predict that people will start to use their cell phone number like a social security number.  In a mobile society, a cell phone number will be like a identity marker that proudly displays your hometown and tells people where you are from.  How many people do you know that kept their hometown area code and phone number when they moved out of state?

3)  Technology will change the way we view "phone numbers".  The future is already here in many ways.  Cell phones have become mp3 players, personal organizers, computers, e-mail and instant messenger senders, cameras and video recorders, televisions/video players, and of course...phones.  The possibilities are only going to improve as technology improves, meaning that colleges and universities will soon be using the cell phone as the primary contact mechanism for theirr alumni.  In fact, I see text messaging becoming an important alumni relations tool in the near future, alerting constituents to current events, registration opportunities for alumni activities, and general stewardship.  And yes, I do foresee a time when text messaging will be used for solicitation, though we're not there yet.  But that is coming soon enough, I believe.

Need an example of an organization using cell phones in innovative ways?  Look no further than Barack Obama's campaign.  Obama's team used cell phone numbers to push text messages to potentialvoters in my home state of Iowa, telling them when the polls opened and how to get to their caucus site. The result- an 8 point Obama victory on his way to the nomination.  They also registered tens of thousands of young people at the DNC in Denver this past August, meaning that these volunteers will be receiving text messages on the eve of the election to be used in organizing their family and friends and getting out the vote.  In fairness, the other presidential campaigns did this too- just not as well.  If colleges and university development offices want to stay on the cutting edge and develop better relationships, they will need to communicate with recent graduates in the language they speak.  Put away the direct mail and start using technology as the primary contact mechanism.

The Cell Phone Ask

Since a reliable and productive cell-phone research product is not yet the norm, and because every day that an institution waits to update this information is an opportunity lost, I am encouraging all the colleges and universities I speak with to have their callers directly capture the cell phone during the call.  This process might sound something like this early in the call:

Did I reach you on your cell phone or home phone?

If they say "home phone" the callers would reply with the following:

Can I go ahead and get your cell phone number to update our alumni records?

The callers would say this in an assumptive and confident fashion, causing no reason for the alumni to pause and fear giving it out.  The overall goal is to add as many cell phones as possible, making future campaigns more productive.  Even if you add just 3 cell phones out of 10 contacted alumni, you're making substantial progress in building your database.

Some institutions are also using student emergency records to update alumni information as soon as the student graduates.  Many colleges and universities have emergency contact information in case of a tragedy on campus.  They will text message alerts to students during crisis situations and they need cell phones to do that.  Since most students will not change their cell phones following graduation, getting the number before they leave campus ensures you can contact them once they depart.  While it's always good to check with your legal department to be certain you are not violating any privacy laws, this is also a good way to get quality demographic information on your most recent graduates in your database without an exhaustive search process.

Good phonathon managers have one eye on the present and one eye on the future.  The time spent on gathering and updating cell phone information is an investment, not an expense.  Don't' be afraid to be innovative and push the envelope.  Strategies such as these will pay dividends for years to come.

Phonathon in the Age of Economic Turbulence

Want some instant feedback on how people are feeling about the financial turmoil the country is facing? Make a few phone calls in the phonathon room and you'll hear more than your fair share of economic uncertainty facing many people today. In fact, I have heard from numerous schools in the past two weeks that they are facing an onslaught of economy-related objections in their calls, and that their callers are having a difficult time overcoming those reasons for not giving. But if you're running a phonathon program, don't write off obtaining your yearly goal just yet. A couple of tips to help your callers overcome this objection.

1) Prepare and expect this objection. People are naturally feeling anxiety and worry over all this bad news, and rightly so. Prospects are likely to use this as their main financial-related objection for the foreseeable future. Prepare your callers to hear this and teach them exactly how you want to handle it.

2) Avoid reinforcing the negative. After hearing a substantial number of refusals, some callers will mistakenly assume that every prospect will have financial difficulties. They will unknowingly become very pessimistic about receiving a gift and many will agree with the prospects that things are not good, thereby hastening a quick end to the phone call. It's hard to stay positive when you're hearing this objection over and over, but the callers need to be optimistic as much as possible. Not every alum will be affected by this crisis, and callers need to remember that we can't judge a book by its cover and projecting our own feelings onto the situation only makes their jobs harder and less productive.

3) Script the exact response you want your callers to use. Don't just tell callers what they should say, give them the verbiage you would like them to use and ask them to put it in their own words- content rigid, verbiage flexible. Many don't know how to overcome this objection and will have trouble coming up with the right words to better their chances for getting told yes. Here's an example of an economy-related objection technique I taught my callers:

We definitely understand your hesitation Mr. Smith. We have heard this from quite a few of our alumni this evening. Like yourself, they are slightly worried about the short-term economic prospects, but they are equally glad they invested in an XYZ College education. Many are not supporting at the leadership level tonight, but are instead choosing to help with a more modest contribution so they can still support XYZ College but also be responsible with their financial decision. Can we count on your support with a gift of...?

We know there is no perfect response that guarantees success. No objection technique will work 100% of the time, especially during such an emotionally sensitive and uncertain period. But remember that the caller’s job is to make the prospect feel more comfortable with giving and to represent the institution well. They will need to acknowledge the objection and the concern of the prospect, but not reinforce the negative and essentially give up by leaving the call without negotiating.

There are still plenty of people making money out there; we just have to convince them that higher education is a worthwhile investment. Remember that challenging times create opportunities for us to show our worth to the institution we work for. Just about anyone can raise money during economic booms. It takes a perseverant and creative phonathon manager to achieve goal during events such as these. I personally remember the fundraising atmosphere the day after the start of the Iraq war (both of them), 9/11, the Asian Tsunami, and Hurricane Katrina. Many felt it would be impossible to raise money after such events because of the enormous economic consequences. However, given time for the panic to subside, quite a few institutions had record-breaking years and many gained a new perspective that challenging times do not always spell certain doom for higher education fundraising. Keep the faith!