One of the most common questions we get asked by our charity partners when talking to our donor acquisition team is: What is your recruitment process like for your fundraisers?
This is a polite way of saying,
listen, we’ve had some not so nice experiences with F2F canvassers and we want to make sure that our brand isn’t harmed by field fundraisers being too salesy…
Some of us have heard the stories of those ‘young kids’ stopping us in the street, wearing that t-shirt and holding a clipboard.
The fundraisers on the streets, in the mall and those knocking donor’s doors, are the first face to face conversation with your charity’s brand. The importance of this interaction is one that should be held in the highest of regards.
Here are the 5 key considerations we as an agency take into account when recruiting – and to be honest, all agency of integrity should:
5 CONSIDERATIONS FOR RECRUITING FUNDRAISERS
- Rooted in the Campaign: We hire per campaign, have at least one year of F2F experience. This guarantees we have the most passionate, skilled fundraisers on each campaign. Our recruitment team reviews each resume and selects the most qualified candidates. Over the phone, the best candidates are required to answer screening questions before our team schedules them for an in person interview. Before candidates are hired, they are required to complete and pass a background check.
- Continuous / On-going Training: We use communication tools to keep teams connected. Street teams meet daily (morning pump up sessions). Throughout our campaigns, we schedule large scale refresher sessions with the client present, if possible. We also like to celebrate successes as a team.
- Team Based Management: Each team is managed by a Team Lead – Team Leads report into the Regional Manager – Regional Managers report into our National Director of Field. All of our fundraisers are paid an above average hourly wage plus bonus for hitting incentives set by us and the client. Don’t pay our fundraisers via commission only.
- The Donor Pitch: Our fundraisers are trained to pitch potential donors with an experience related to the cause and through a meaningful conversation. Quality is also enhanced by our policy to only enroll donors over the age of 25. We often create internal incentive competitions with our teams that focus on increasing the number of quarterly and annual donations because they have the highest value. Our managers dedicate a minimum of 75% of their time to being in the field actually working alongside the team, showing them best practices and addressing any retraining that needs to take place.
- Your Advocates: Our goal is to not only create long term donors, but advocates for your cause. We work very closely with our charity partners to ensure we have the most up to date information from the charity. We schedule daily morning sessions with our staff to keep them updated on the most up to date and relevant messaging provided by the client.
To learn more about our F2F acquisition process please reach out to aspa@up-fundraising.com.