ADV: Bates Fund Student Caller (S9803X)
Summary, Scope, and Responsibilities
The student calling program operates during both the fall and winter semesters, and four weeks during short term. Calling shifts will be held Sunday through Thursday evenings, from 6:30PM-9:00PM. Students are required to work a minimum of two shifts per week. Students will be responsible for contacting alumni and parents to solicit donations for the Bates Fund through an automated calling system. All phone calls will act as a follow up to a direct mail solicitation which has been previously sent by the Advancement Office. Students will be required to ask for a charitable donation to the college, and handle any questions or objections that constituent might have about Bates. Student Callers are ambassadors of the College, as they may be one of the few contacts that a particular alum or parent has with the school. The students therefore have a responsibility to be as professional and courteous as possible in their dealings with the targeted audience. Keeping one’s job will require a certain minimum level of performance. The pay rate for the Student Caller is $8.50/hr.
The Basics
Qualifications, Requirements, and Responsibilities
Requirements
Reporting
Responsibilities
Bates Student Callers must be able to effectively communicate the reasons that Bates depends upon charitable donations from its constituents, as well as be receptive to any feedback that the constituent may convey. In addition to phone calls, students will be asked to write short notes to alums and parents after a pledge is received, to be included in the envelope mailed. The students will also be responsible for updating the personal information for each alum on an as-needed basis (address changes, job changes, family changes). Thus, students must possess some record-keeping abilities.
Student Callers will be fully trained prior to making their first call. Training sessions will be scheduled at the beginning of each semester, with review sessions for constituency-specific training scheduled as needed throughout the semester. Initial training will include an introduction and background information regarding the work of the Advancement Office in general and Annual Giving specifically. The first and most important step in training is to be sure that all callers understand the crucial role that annual fundraising plays in the life of the students and operations of the College. From there, callers will be shown how to effectively turn that knowledge into coherent and convincing reasons to give to Bates, which they will then apply on the telephone to alumni and parents. Callers will have the opportunity to make practice calls during the training sessions, with role playing in small groups by the Assistant Director and the Student Calling Supervisors.