Telephone fundraising

How it works


Some charities have staff in the fundraising team who work on the telephone. Others train and use volunteers. The majority use specialist agencies to make the calls for them. The charity normally pays a flat rate for every contact that is made.

Telephone fundraising is unpopular with some people but it is very effective in certain situations such as:

  • For emergency appeals (or lobbying campaigns) when it means supporters can be reached faster than by mail
  • Where the message is complicated – for instance when the new Gift Aid tax arrangements were introduced by the Government – it was easier to explain them in a conversation than on paper
  • Where the charity supporters prefer the phone to the mail – and are more likely to respond positively to a call than a mailing.

Increasingly now donations can be made with little or no paperwork, so the telephone is becoming a more cost effective fundraising route.

Most charities don't practice ‘cold calling’ as this doesn’t work well for them, though there are some exceptions to this, and many charities do that call people 'cold' to ask them to distribute collection envelopes or raffle tickets. Most fundraising calls are made to people who give to the charity already.