Pick up the phone
Dan Hanley
I help nonprofits create stronger relationships with donors that grow fundraising and impact, and work with them in recruiting new team members. Weekly "Dan's Tips" for nonprofit fundraisers on the website.
I am in the world of nonprofit fundraising. Relationships are the life-blood of my work.
We live in a world of texting and emailing. It might seem that we are stuck here. I'm writing this to let you know that we're not. We can communicate in a much more personal way.
It's called the telephone.
If you want to make someone's day, pick up the phone. Yes, you are busy. You might even be more busy than anyone else you know, yet you still have time to pick up the phone.
Your call will make someone smile. It will add to your relationship.
Try this. Instead of being on auto-pilot with email responses, try answering an email with a phone call for a day. A full day you ask? Yes. And of course if that is honestly not going to work, then try an hour out of a day. No matter what field you are in, I believe relationships matter to you. This is an easy way to grow them, to start them, to add in the process of making that particular relationship a life-long one.
What do you have to lose? My history with doing this has brought me nothing but positivity while in many cases making someone's day. I highly suggest giving it a try!
Workshops build strong teams with board members, donors, and employees through creativity, connection and collaboration. Work in classrooms with English Language Learners to build literacy and leadership.
6 年I agree very much that a phone call brings a connection that becomes successful because it’s voice to voice. In fact, I often think they bring a smile to my face. To me it is equivalent of putting a vase of flowers in a room; fresh, happy and engaging.
Senior Executive Director, Providence TrinityCare Hospice Foundation
6 å¹´I read this just after putting down my phone from a round of donor calls.? I love making calls but what I find is that most recipients of a call are surprised and a bit unsure of how to proceed.? In work settings today, everyone expects every phone call to be scheduled (I even subscribe to a service, Calendly, to take the challenge out of scheduling calls).? When I just pick up the phone to call, the other person wonders why I'm calling. In short, I still keep making calls and I now expect to spend the first minute explaining why.?