Art Meets Tech orangephone

Published on March 2nd, 2012 | by Rachael Wilkinson

10

Telemarketing is Dead – and I killed it

Fundraising for nonprofit organizations is considered an art, not a perfect science, and it’s clear that techniques must be tailored to each individual organization. One of the common pieces of wisdom is that “telephone appeals” (read: telemarketing) consistently work as a fundraising tool for nonprofit arts organizations. I’m not saying random cold calls, but calling people who have funded you before, have a history with your organization and would likely donate again. Nearly one out of every five people will respond and donate to your organization calling and asking for money.

As a Millennial consumer, I cannot fathom this.

I, and perhaps you, dear Reader, belong to a generation simply called “Millennials”. Spell check doesn’t know that word yet, but soon it will. We are defined not by high technological competency, which is given to the generation directly before us, but by technological connectedness. I’ve had a series of experiences which have lead me to create these conclusions about the relationship between Millennials and telemarketing. Millennials, who by the way love to donate, have been raised in a society where everything is connected electronically.

With that connectedness comes with a degree of anonymity. While relationships formed over the web can become as close and as intimate as the penpals of old, they take time. They are cultivated with mutual respect and friendship and while our messages may travel instantly from one to the other, the relationship is built up more slowly.

In this age of instant communication, I think the telemarketing approach is dead to those arts organizations that wish to solicit donations from Millennials. My telephone is reserved for my parents and my grandma, and for calling Renee to let her know I’m outside her building and would she please let me in.

I have had organizations, which I have supported in the past, call me on the phone and ask for donations. It never works.

They always follow a certain pattern. The telemarketer introduces themselves, and asks your name – here again, trying to build up a relationship. But I, the Millennial consumer, am used to long exchanges on Tumblr before ever learning anything than the other person’s username, so that tactic falls short. I thrive in the anonymity of the internet, and this direct and sudden confrontation with a stranger frightens me like a deer in headlights.

Then the telemarketer will try to tell me about the organizations hardships this year; how an economic recession has set them back, or how government legislation has made their work more difficult, could I please help with their annual fund? I, the Millennial consumer, just watched a video of the violence in Syria this morning – you’re trying to tell me you have problems? The problems I care about are the ones involving life and death – and I will negate your ask at every turn.

Finally, the telemarketer has been instructed to ask three times before respectfully hanging up. Are you kidding me? I, the Millennial consumer, tweet, reblog, and share on Facebook all while drinking my caramel latte and finishing an accounting assignment. Your long phone call is wasting my time. Why didn’t you understand when I first said ‘no’? Are you trying to guilt me into this? This is ridiculous. I will never give to this organization again, and their number is now blocked on my phone.

In truth, this all could have been avoided if this organization, who clearly have a record on me, had just emailed me their ask with a direct link, explaining that they need help with their annual fund. The anonymity is intact, I no longer have an individual I don’t know trying to force me into the intimate donor relationship. They haven’t insulted me with blowing their issues into hyperboles (while important to the organization, meaningless to me). And it took all of two seconds to click the link and another to type in my credit card number.

What I’m saying here is, if you’re catering to a mature audience, use telemarketing. Statistically, it works. And probably you’re already using online direct asks in some form, whether its email or otherwise. What I’m hoping you’ll do is pay more attention to who gets what message. If you’re reaching for the Millennials, those fun-loving young kids, maybe tweet them. Email them. Ask them when they attend your next party.

For the love of art, though, do not call.

 

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About the Author

Rachael Wilkinson

Rachael Wilkinson is a second year Master of Arts Management student at Carnegie Mellon University. She recently completed a Bachelor of Arts in Arts Management at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her interests include social media and art museums, and this is reflected in her most recent experience at the Mattress Factory Museum. You can find her on Twitter as the main voice of @TechintheArts and her personal account, @rewilkin


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  • Camille Schenkkan

    This is such a fantastic article.  You’ve articulated my feelings about telemarketing.  Also, I’m glad to know someone else hates/fears the phone as much as I do.

  • Rachael Wilkinson

    Thanks Camille! I’m glad to hear I’m not alone!

  • http://deirdrereid.com Deirdre Reid

    You paint a great picture of how your generation feels about telemarketing. I always like getting a peak into another generation’s head. But, some of us late Boomers feel the same way. No landline and my cell is off-limits to any telemarketing. Send me an email, tweet it out, update your Facebook page or whatever – let me research and think about it on my time and get back to you — that’s how I want to be approached. I think more and more of us, at least those of us who are digital natives or immigrants, want it that way. Thanks for a great post.

  • Proserpina

    Hate to burst your bubble, folks, but we telemarketers do our work because it works. And we are absolutely always a very much needed aspect of the organization we’re phoning for. We don’t want to bother people who don’t want to be bothered, we just need to identify those individuals who are glad to help over the phone–and we can’t do it without calling them. By the way, try doing it yourself some time. It is intensely difficult work. Guess what else? There are millennials that are happy to hear from us. So have some respect for the hard working individual who calls you, and if you don’t want the call just be firm in saying as much. Don’t be a hater.

  • Rachael Wilkinson

    You’ve got some great points. I never said that telemarketing isn’t hard work, and I think in some situations it can really be useful. I think if an organization is trying to reach Millennial’s wallets, it is an exercise in futility. You’re right, there are Millennials who are happy to hear from you, but only 5% prefer to donate over the phone. 25% of Millennials prefer to be contacted via email to donate, and their most preferred method to donate is through the organizations website (58% of Millennials). The actual rate of those Millennails who give via telemarketing is 10%, and when we compare that to the rate in the article nationally (18%), it really demonstrates this generation’s adverse reaction to telemarketing. I think if organizations want to court this younger demographic, they really must consider what Millennials want. 

    For some more information on Millennial giving patterns, check out our articles (http://www.technologyinthearts.org/2011/12/tis-the-season-for-getting-those-millennials-to-give/) as well as the report its based on (http://millennialdonors.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/MD11_Report1411.pdf)

  • Rachael Wilkinson

    Glad to hear it! Thanks!

  • Tara Aes

    I have done telemarking for an arts organization and could not agree more with this article.  The vast majority of people that responded with any kind of positive reaction were either over 60 or did not spend much time on computers/smart phones.  

    It is extremely hard work and there’s a reason for that: it’s mostly ineffective.

  • Rachael Wilkinson

    Thanks Tara – I think we’re really going to see a shift away from this tactic as time goes on.

  • Andrew M.

    As a Millennial with limited resources
    (or, with different priorities for what to do with my resources – who wouldn’t
    rather spend $540 on vacations than on Verizon data service?) I find that
    telemarketing does sometimes work on me in a way that social media fails… but
    that’s because the organizations that are calling me have figured out how to do
    it properly. For example: my alma mater uses students, in a call center on
    campus, to call alumni – often pairing majors of the caller and the donor. When
    someone spends 10 minutes chatting about a professor, or about their dorm
    before making it clear that they’re about to make an ask I’m much more likely
    to listen. It is a chat, a conversation, a nonchalant way of winning me over by
    talking to me about what my experience is. Ironically, when I think about how
    that University, or how a specific organization makes me feel, I am willing to
    open my virtual checkbook. Making a call without trying to sell something is a
    great way to sell something. Even if I turn down a telemarketer, I’m likely to
    go to an organizations website to look at giving levels if that organization
    took the time to cater the call to me (I propose Millennials should be remonikered
    MEllennials). Where it can go wrong is if I get a call from someone who has
    never stepped foot inside a theatre, let alone the one they’re calling for, or
    worse, if they’re in another state. A lot of data is collected about patrons
    nowadays. If you mine that data and tailor a call properly telemarketing will
    still be valuable. But if you are one to not invest the time, or the resources,
    you will likely do more harm than good, especially if you outsource something
    as intimate as a phone call.

  • John Federico

    Your school or schools has the ability to pick you out as a millennial because they’ve had your birthdate in their database since you filled out your initial application for admission. For most, if not all, of the arts organizations you may be buying tickets from, your age is not something they can ask for in a phone call or in your transaction five minutes before show time at the box office window. Would you trade your birthdate for more anonymity…so we can tag you as a millennial and make a request through an appropriate channel?

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