First 9 Call Time Lists to Make in Numero

You’ve decided to run for office, filed the necessary paperwork, and found a finance director or campaign manager.  Now, you’re ready to start fundraising! One of the key ways for a campaign to raise money is through call time. Successful call time requires organization.  You need to know who and why you’re calling so you don’t waste precious time dialing randomly when there are so many important conversations to have!  That’s why we’ve put together a rundown of the first 9 call time lists that you should make to kick off your campaign fundraising.

Call Time Lists and Why They Work

Potential donors come in many forms, so call time lists are instrumental for sorting people into manageable groups.  Lists allow you to focus each call time shift on specific topics or goals. You can then create a call “template” that tailors your discussion points and ask amounts based on the list while allowing you to customize each call to the individual.  More personal calls mean more engagement in your campaign, which means larger (and, fingers crossed, recurring) donations.

Bringing all of these elements together — lists, templates, scripts for individual calls — might sound daunting, especially to first-time candidates.  So here are 9 lists – that are easy to make in Numero – to get you started:

1. Personal Contact List

A personal contact list should be the first list you make, especially if you’re a first-time candidate.  Having a list of your personal contacts is also super useful for local campaigns.  Building name recognition and grassroots support is easier when you start with people you already know because you have connections with them already.  Plus, it’s a chance to catch up with friends and acquaintances from all walks of life.

2. Have not spoken to in the last month

This is a good list to use every few months to ensure you’re not leaving any of your contacts untouched for long periods of time.  This list gathers all the names of prospective donors your campaign hasn’t interacted with in the last 30 days.  

There are lots of slight variations you can do with this list.  For example, you could add a filter for those who have already donated a small amount to your campaign.  Then you can make asks from people you know are willing to engage with your campaign.  Adding the “AND has phone number” filter will also streamline your call time efforts from this list.

If there’s room for them to donate more, but you haven’t talked to them in more than a month, it could be a good time to reach back out.

3. Has not contributed, has not interacted, has phone number

Every prospective donor starts out at this point, but for contacts that you haven’t had any touch points with, it’s important to get some under your belt! No matter how much donor data you have, you won’t know how they want to engage with your campaign until you talk to them. 

So this is a great place to start – give them a call!

4. Pledge Chase

A lot of candidates forget to create follow-up call time lists. This list lets you filter for all contacts who have an open pledge but that you haven’t spoken to in the last 30 days. With all the different lists you could make (and all the criteria you can include) this is an easy list to overlook.  A missing pledge is lost potential, not just for that pledge but for recurring donations and donor networking opportunities as well.

Running a pledge chase list every so often is a great way to be sure you’re chasing down those donors who said they’d donate to you but haven’t just yet. 

5. Location-Based Large Ask

It’s helpful for candidates to drill down on their database by city, zip code, state, etc before making large asks. The more local you can get, the easier it is to connect with your contacts on the issues, and many teams use these connections to make big asks. 

For example, if you’re a candidate in Illinois, use the filters, “city is one of Highland Park, Lincoln Park, Winnetka, or Evanston” (4 high-income areas in Illinois) to create a list of donors likely to give large amounts.

6. Amount Left to Max + has not interacted recently

Another list that will streamline your campaign’s fundraising is one that sorts potential donors your campaign hasn’t contacted recently by the amount they have left to give your campaign.  You can add filters for specific contribution amounts and for a timeframe for your last contact with them.  This way you can sort potential donors by those who have donated a specific amount (under the max amount) but that your campaign hasn’t contacted in a few months.

This makes your ask easier for a couple of reasons:  You know they’re supporters because they’ve already donated to your campaign AND you have a built-in ask amount for when you make the call.

7. By ask amount

Your call time manager (or whoever is prepping the call time lists) will analyze your contacts and create tailored ask amounts for each person based on their contribution history and giving capacity.  Once this is done, you can use the “ask amount” filter to create amount-specific lists of potential donors. 

The benefit of a list sorted by ask amount is that you don’t have to change your approach with each call.  You know that the ask amount is $500 for everyone on that list, for example.  

Starting call time with this list makes your job easier and more efficient because there is less to think about and prepare for between each call.

8. Event-Specific

Have an event coming up?  Great!  Apply a contact code to all possible attendees and use that contact code to compile an event-specific call time list.  You can add additional filters to help even more, such as “giving history is over 1k.”  These filters make it easier to organize events according to giving history.  That way, you’re reaching out to grassroots donors for grassroots events and max out donors for expensive events.

9. By Issue Area

If you have information on the things your contacts care about (climate change, healthcare, etc), you can create contact codes based on those interests.  You can use the contact codes as filters to create call time lists based on issue areas.  That way, you can communicate your messages on, say, climate change to your climate voter contacts all from one place.

Getting the Most from Call Time with Lists

Taking the time to organize your potential donors into call time lists will save your campaign time and money by making call time more focused and efficient.  Your staff and volunteers will have an easier time making calls and creating connections when their conversations can be focused on specific ask amounts, events, or issues.  A lot of work goes into converting a contact into a donor, but these lists are a great jumping off point for more successful campaign fundraising.