Telemarketing agency Archives

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Donor care, Fundraising, NFP, Non-profit, Nonprofit, Telemarketing, Telemarketing agency

Telemarketing List Matters in Charity Fundraising

Last Friday evening, I received two telemarketing calls—just five minutes apart—from the same agency. The callers were polite, professional, and represented two different charities. As someone who deeply supports the charity sector, I was struck not by the frequency of the calls but by the complete lack of coordination. If this is happening to someone who wants to engage with fundraising, what’s happening to the average donor?

I received a third call this long holiday weekend. This one came in on Monday on the King’s Birthday. This call was to buy more lottery tickets for an upcoming draw. I commented, “You are calling donors on a public holiday?” The caller laughed at me.

It is tax appeal season. I get it.

Telemarketing is an effective channel when done right—personal, direct, and, at times, emotive. But when it goes wrong, it leaves more than a missed opportunity. It risks eroding donor trust and staining the reputations of both the agency and the nonprofits involved.

The Case for Scanning and Suppression

Charity telemarketing firms must adopt the practice of scanning and suppressing duplicate entries across campaigns—particularly when representing multiple clients. A robust data hygiene process should include:

Cross-client suppression lists to prevent over-contacting the same individuals.
Deduplication against recent call logs to avoid calling a supporter more than once in a short time frame.
Opt-out synchronization across campaigns to respect the preferences of disengaged prospects.

Without this, what may seem like efficient outreach quickly becomes harassment.

Impact on Reputation

When multiple charities use the same firm and that firm fails to coordinate outreach efforts, the result is simple: donors feel like a target, not a supporter. The damage is twofold:

To the charity’s brand – Donors may associate the annoyance of repeated calls with the charity itself, leading to complaints, social media backlash, and—worst of all—long-term disengagement.
To the telemarketing industry – For an industry already walking a tightrope of public opinion, incidents like this validate every criticism about aggressive or insensitive fundraising tactics.

I am not mentioning the names of the two telemarketing firms or the charities. I have contacted the firms and the charities to let them know my distaste for the calls, one after another.

A Turnoff for Donors

At a time when donor trust is paramount, poor telemarketing practices act as a loud alarm bell for supporters. It tells them their privacy isn’t respected and their generosity is being taken for granted. This isn’t just a missed donation—it’s a missed relationship.

It’s time for telemarketing firms and charities to hold each other accountable. Responsible data management, coordination between campaigns, and a donor-first mindset are non-negotiable. One call too many doesn’t just cost a gift—it can cost a reputation.

Let’s make smarter calls. For everyone’s sake.

Stephen Mally Agency, Brand, Channel, Charitable, Charitable organisation, Charity, Fundraising, Non-profit, Telemarketer, Telemarketing, Telemarketing agency

Telemarketing agency staff – representing your NFP’s brand

Last week, I received a call from a telemarketing agency. The agency was making acquisition calls on behalf of a charitable organisation. The agency called me as I was walking through a supermarket attempting to pick up a few items after a day onsite with a client. The telemarketer started the call with a pleasant hello. He identified himself and said what he was calling about. He then asked if I had ever heard of the charity he was representing. After I responded I had only heard of the organisation because of his agency’s calls to me on the charity’s behalf, the telemarketer proceeded to laugh and tell me he could not believe I have never heard of the organisation outside of their calls.

He then hung up on me.

I found this call odd for the following reasons:

Whenever anyone hangs up on someone, it demonstrates anger and a complete dismissal of the person on the other end of the call.
Had this man listened to my accent, it would have been clear I am not from Australia and, perhaps, I do not have a Rolodex of every charitable organisation in my brain.
If this agency had done their homework, they would have seen they called me three times last year for this same charity. I blogged about the calls at that time.
This telemarketer did not represent the charity in a good light.
I have a soft spot for telemarketing and typically given whenever any charity contacts me by phone.
This telemarketer has caused me to not give this particular charity ever in the future.

Any supplier hired by your charitable organisation represents you and your organisation. Suppliers are an extension of your non-profit organisation’s staff. They are representing your brand. Be sure to listen in on samplings of calls occurring on your organisation’s behalf to be sure these calls are the same tone and style you expect from any staff member of your non-profit.

Telemarketing is an important channel for non-profit fundraising. There is no doubt about. I am supportive of telemarketing professionally and personally (with my wallet). But, it is critical you manage your telemarketing and conduct oversight via checks and balances.