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:

1. 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.
2. 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.