Telemarketing Software Featured Article

While many of us are often annoyed by telemarketing efforts at home, it’s easy to forget how important outbound telemarketing software is for charities and non-profits. Having the right technology is critical for a non-profit, particularly in a more challenging era of raising funds.

The long recession has caused charitable giving to drop, and the return of the payroll tax rate to 6.2 percent after a two-year reduction has also eaten into most household’s charity budgets. For this reason, to stay afloat, charities need to rely on better technologies to help them streamline operations, and raise more money with fewer resources.

Specifically, fundraising professionals need tools to help them build and maintain close relationships with donors, patrons, members, prospects and volunteers, according to CRM solutions provider VanillaSoft. The VanillaSoft solution with its centralized contact management, call scripting, e-mail templates and drip campaigns will help ensure consistent, on-message communications to support fundraising goals.

Other VanillaSoft features that can help improve efficiency and productivity include real-time dashboard view, intelligent call recording, auto dialing, donation tracking reports and easy import/export options with Salesforce.com (News - Alert), Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge, and other database applications, said David Hood, VanillaSoft’s CEO, in a recent blog post.

To position itself to serve non-profit industry better, the telemarketing software provider is attending the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ 50th Annual International Conference on Fundraising (ICON) this week in San Diego, Calif. The show will focus on a number of challenges facing the non-profit industry, including the fact that the return of the payroll tax to pre-2010 levels will result in one in five Americans reducing their charitable giving by an average of 29 percent.

Ways non-profits can boost their fundraising efforts and keep costs down include centralizing contact information, using better call scripting, managing e-mail campaigns better and driving efficiencies in operations.