From the recent Bloomberg article, to the feature on the Today Show to the cover of the Washington Post Business section, it’s clear that telemarketing is under attack – more specifically, the ethics of telemarketing fees – and this issue is not going away.

Pinterest is dead – already? Weren’t we just talking about how nonprofits are jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon? Pinterest was the third most-popular social network by the end of 2011, then dropped like a stone this spring. But is it over? Two blogs (of many on this subject!) examine what’s going on here and here.

Campaign Spotlight: Sustainer Recruitment

Challenge: At Avalon, we’ve always touted telemarketing as the most effective channel for sustainer invitations. One of our clients, a progressive advocacy nonprofit, asked us to confirm that telemarketing is the way to go, before they further invested in a channel that can be more expensive than direct mail.

Everyone knows that the first 30 seconds of a telemarketing call is make or break.  But isn’t it really the first 5 seconds?  If the caller stumbles and fumbles the first few words – that critical introduction – in all likelihood the call is lost.  So how can you train your callers to make the most of those first few moments?

Here’s a great example from the Galapagos Conservancy of how the phone can be used cost-effectively to recover lapsed members.