Google’s latest change to its search engine advertising is having an impact on charities. With the removal of the right-hand side advertisements from search results pages, competition for visibility is now impossibly high – particularly given charities’ limited budgets.
Google supports the good work of charities through its Ad Grants programme, which gives charities a free search budget. This is an effective way to reach new prospects online. However, since bids from charities through the Ad Grants programme are limited, the reduced number of advertising spaces is making it impossible to compete.
So what other methods can charities use to reach new contributors and make up for what looks to be a certain shortfall in online donations?
Sometimes, there’s nothing more effective than an old-fashioned phone call – with the added advantage of a hosted dialler.
Using a hosted dialler to reach contributors
Perhaps the biggest advantage of a hosted dialler is the ability to increase the number of calls your agents make every hour – in some cases, by as much as 300%. With predictive dialling modes and automatic dialling, your agents can spend more time explaining what your charity does, why their support is so essential, and what they can do to help.
However, increased productivity and data penetration are not the only benefits for charities.
A dialler can also be used to make sure that every potential contributor is followed up on effectively. When callbacks need to be scheduled, they can be set up in the dialler and sent to an available agent at the right time. When paperwork or direct debit forms need to be dispatched, the process can be automated with customer relationship management (CRM) system integration.
Hosted diallers are already being used to great success in major UK charities. Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity, uses Hostcomm Hosted Predictive Dialler to:
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Contact contributors who have recently signed up to support Shelter, encouraging them to maintain their contributions
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Increase agent productivity by filtering out busy signals and no-answers before they are connected
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Maintain compliance with both Ofcom regulations and Shelter’s own fundraising code of conduct
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Flexibly scale use up and down to meet the demands of new campaigns and fundraising initiatives
You can find out more about how Shelter benefits from a hosted dialler in our case study – click here to download your copy.
A cost-effective way to increase donations
In the changing landscape of online advertising, outbound calling campaigns remain one of the most effective ways for a charity to raise funds. With a hosted dialler, these campaigns can be more effective – without creating another considerable cost for charities to burden.
A hosted dialler is delivered as a service, with no need for expensive in-house implementation or investment in hardware. Charities simply pay a per user, per agent fee per month, which can be scaled up and down to suit current campaigns and budgets.
As a result, it’s a practical way to reach new contributors, without incurring new costs.
