A Tool to Help Staff Field Donor Questions at Year’s End

When year-end campaigns work, gifts flow in — and so do phone calls from donors. Is your staff prepared to handle them?

The busy season sometimes blindsides employees who aren’t fundraisers, says John Wilburn, director of direct response at the National Park Foundation. “We took for granted that we knew this was coming, the Super Bowl of fundraising,” he says of past years, but the holiday spike in gifts and inquiries from supporters can catch people in other departments off-guard.

“Since there’s so many donors contacting the organization and making donations during the year-end time frame, a lot of calls get routed to the wrong place, and callers call random numbers,” he explains.

Staff members who are not fundraisers may not know how to answer questions or help someone make a gift, Wilburn says.

To streamline communications within the nonprofit and better serve supporters, last year the development team created an internal guide that provides answers to frequently asked questions and instructions on how to handle common donor requests. The document, which every employee received, helped “empower staff to be able to answer those more general questions,” Wilburn says, and also gave fundraisers a quick way to find information they often need when talking to donors.

The organization plans to use the same guide for this year’s giving season, but with a new look. “We’ll refresh it a little bit, make it look a little nicer,” he says. Entitled “Year-End Directory and FAQs,” the guide covers:

General information about the foundation, such as its address and phone number, Charity Navigator rating, and activities. This section also explains the percentage of each gift that goes to programs, what makes the organization’s mission unique, and how to answer questions about gift incentives, such as stocking stuffers and premiums.

Taking people off the mailing list, including a sample script for responding to email requests for removal and helping those who say they’re receiving duplicate mailings or who ask, “How did you get my name?”

Receiving various types of donations, such as a tribute, stock, or planned gift.

Acknowledging gifts made online or off, helping people who didn’t receive an acknowledgment, and creating year-end donation summaries.

Contact information for relevant departments at the organization.

Download the document and use it as a model to create a guide for your nonprofit.