How to Get Donors to Call You Back!

We recently had a client tell us they were getting very discouraged because they were making phone calls to their donors and no one was getting back with them.

We understood. Making phone calls in the age of texting and digital communication can be difficult. But their response to our next question was the real problem.

We asked, “How many times did you call?”

Their response? Once.

They were only making one phone call to follow up with their donors—and that was it! It is extremely common to make phone calls and to have hardly anyone answer the first time you call them.

You might make phone calls to 10 different people in one afternoon and be lucky to have 4 of them answer (or call you back). And to be honest, it will most likely be closer to 2.

You never want to be passive in your fundraising. You need to stay active! So, don’t wait for people to call back. After all, no one will (or should) ever care more about funding your ministry than you do!

It’s easy as 1, 2, 3…

1. Two days after you make an initial phone call, make another one.

2. Leave a voicemail after the first call, then send a text or e-mail after the second call.

3. And then guess what? Two days after your second phone call, make a third one.

Remember, you aren’t bugging them. Multiple phone calls in a single day would be obnoxious—but spreading them out over several days is perfectly acceptable business etiquette. And that’s what you are. You are a business owner, funding your business. This is why you should never stay passive in your fundraising.

You may even find that some people (if not most) will be grateful you stayed faithful in your follow-up because they want to give and keep forgetting to get back with you. So, keep your head up, and your phone dialing!

Asking for funding can be uncomfortable for anyone if they don’t know the right ways to ask. That’s why we wrote a whole chapter on this topic in our e-book: How to Get a Generous Response (almost) Every Time You Ask — click to read it now and learn how to improve your fundraising efforts today!