Telemarketing

I've been working publicity for the local Heifer International Living Gift Market. Overall, it's been a very rewarding experience. We've raised 700 dollars so far, and the event doesn't take place until October. Putting together a press kit to send to local media outlets was a fascinating learning experience, and we have at least one magazine working on an article about our event. But the most interesting job I've taken on so far has been telemarketing the event to area churches.
It sounded so simple at first. The Change for Kids Challenge is such a high-quality experience for families and children, that I was sure all I needed to do was get the word out. Turns out, it's not that easy. I'm gradually finding a phone script that gets a yes to more information more than it gets a no. It only took me about 200 calls to get it right.
My current challenge is figuring out how to improve the response rate once I get the information in the hands of the churches. At the moment my total call back success rate stands at one, and they were angry with Heifer. The good news is that I was able to help them move closer to their very noble goal of helping a village in Mexico by improving their connection with Heifer. No one has signed up for the Change for Kids Challenge because of my efforts.
I'm going to keep at it though. I'm learning the ins and outs of publicity from the ground up, and that's got to pay off somewhere in my life, somehow. Feeding the hungry is worth doing a little tough grunt work.