The Nonprofit FAQ

Aren't telemarketing volunteers or canvassers a special breed?

Ina Frank writes: Volunteers: Not a special breed in my experience; and quite different from "canvassers" who are eking out a living making calls on behalf of organizations about which they know little and care less, except that they may be paid more for closing a pledge -- regardless of the impression they leave with the prospect about your work. How are volunteers different? The most effective telemarketing volunteers are basically those people who have the interests of your organization at heart; believe in what you are doing and who, at some point in their lives, have ever talked on a telephone! Their sincerity comes through; they can be trained (with a healthy dose of humor) to do the actual call -- and it's made clear to the prospect at the outset that the caller *is* a volunteer.