Your Next Team Member is in Your Call Center Tonight – A Perspective from a Former Student Phonathon Caller

I wasn’t surprised to hear that in our recent survey of over 700 student callers, a significant number indicated an interest in fundraising as a career, and about a quarter said that working at the phonathon made them more interested. That was me. I was a student caller, and like most, I took the job because I needed the paycheck, not because I specifically sought out a position in fundraising. I eventually parlayed that part-time job and experience into a career after graduation.

Those of us who have been student phonathon callers or have managed calling programs know how this “hardest job on campus” can teach skills like communication, persistence and negotiating. These are transferrable skills that help students in all career paths. Phonathon can be one of the most educational experiences on campus, along with the great charitable support it provides for student scholarship and other needs. This is why we want to showcase the hardest job on campus as the “best job on campus.”

I was someone who didn’t start off as a particularly strong caller. However, I was enthusiastic about my school and energetic about the work we did. Calling helped me build confidence and affirm that the work we do makes a difference, and I wanted to continue being a part of that.

Your phonathon contains students that embody one of the most difficult characteristics to “teach,” and that is passion. Your phonathon is filled with students who are passionate enough about their school that they are willing to work the “hardest job on campus,” three nights a week to make a difference. We need to work to leverage this source of passion, energy, and talent to help create the next generation of fundraising professionals.

COACHING

The first answer is coaching. Callers will evolve if we take the time to train them well and coach them. That’s how young professionals grow. Natural skills only go so far. There’s always room for improvement, and we need to make sure we are helping our students continue to fine-tune those important skills they are developing. Our survey also found that returning callers enjoy the challenge quite a bit and find it significantly easier over time, so investing in caller retention with money and time is very valuable.

LET THEM LEAD

The second way we can grow student callers as leaders is to let them lead. Many programs have structured lead caller or student supervisor positions. These should be given to students who excel, are entrepreneurial, and passionate about the cause. These leadership positions add another dimension of transferrable skills such as management, coaching, motivation, statistical analysis, among many others. Outside of the phonathon, some larger institutions like Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan have created formal internship programs for those interested in fundraising and higher education development. It’s time for more institutions to step up and help provide opportunities to not only educate our students on potential careers for them in our industry, but to also have more opportunities to have students be a part of our teams. As we all know, fundraising positions involve odd hours, a constant eye toward metrics, and a real love for the institution. Our student fundraisers embody those traits, and providing student caller’s advancement opportunities could be key to ending the increasing turnover in fundraising positions.

That’s what happened to me. I had great coaching, and mentors who took an interest in me and helped me decide that this was a career path through experience and leadership opportunities. They weren’t always easy on me, but they made an investment, and I’m grateful for it.

It’s about a lot more than recruiting fundraisers. It was also great to see that 94% of student callers say that they are more likely to give back to their alma mater after being a phonathon fundraiser.

The next generation of donors and fellow fundraisers are dialing the phone in your call center tonight. Do you know who they are?

To learn more about the results of our recent student phonathon caller survey, visit our Developing Our Phonathon Callers with Challenge and Support page to download the white paper.