Let’s get something straight right away.  I hate it when telemarketers call me.  But I like it when friends call.  And I really like it when I come away from a call ministered to.

So cast the word and concept of telemarketing aside—forever!  And embrace the concept of teleministry.  Let me explain the huge difference and why the latter will improve the image and income of your ministry.

With proper planning, you can conduct teleministry campaigns in-house that are tremendous revenue-builders and relationship-builders with your donors.  Unless you are attempting to call over 10,000 people, the in-house approach will save you money (and you'll have control over what is said to your constituency) 

You can usually achieve a 20% response rate with teleministry.  That sure beats the 2-3% response rate of most direct mail letters.  And... approach teleministry in such a way that you are not hammering people for money.  That's what turns a lot of ministries off from trying.  But, I firmly believe that teleministry is the second most effective way (with radio-thons being the #1 way) to raise funds from your general constituency. 

Let’s address this term teleministry vs. telemarketing.  I heard this term used first by a colleague of mine who has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for ministry.  Teleministry means that we keep ministry as the top priority.  It will keep us from using donors.  We will treat them with respect, as human beings and as partners in ministry.  They are friends.  That foundation is important.

Recruiting and training your callers and management team

Since you're not hiring professional telemarketers, you'll have to be sensitive to identify people who are good communicators on the phone.  Usually, though, those who aren't experienced will not volunteer for a project like this.  In fact, you may have a hard time getting your staff and Board to participate.  Let's face it... most people have an aversion to phone solicitation.

Because of that, you need to start early in recruiting your phone team.  Sources include your radio-thon phone team, people from your board’s and staff’s churches, past volunteers and current financial partners.

If you have a two-week campaign, five nights a week, and you have five phone stations, you need 5-7 people.  I recommend this be a paid position, because you will get the commitment and consistency of the same callers being there for the whole campaign.

However, if you cannot afford to hire your callers, then you will need 3-4 times the number of people.  That’s because most volunteers will probably only be there one or two times.   With most of the board and staff taking at least one of the shifts, that will help in trying to find quality callers.  Any way you look at it, though, you do have to work hard to fill the shifts.  That's why it is important to start early!

From The Complete System for Ministry Fundraising & Development, by Jon Fugler and Ron Johnston. There is a detailed step-by-step plan for teleministry campaigns and other high-return fundraising events in the System.