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Telephone fundraising

Why does Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity use telephone fundraising?

The value to Great Ormond Street Hospital of the donations secured from our supporters on the telephone cannot be overstated. We have been successfully engaging with existing and potential supporters by telephone since 1997 and the long-term security of these donations gives us the ability to plan ahead, and use our money as effectively as possible.

The other advantage of telephone fundraising, along with doorstep and street fundraising, is that it attracts a diverse range of supporters. These are often individuals we haven't managed to reach before through more traditional methods such as direct mail, press appeals and TV or radio.

Who are the telephone fundraisers?

We work with an experienced and established telephone fundraising agency called Personal Telephone Fundraising Limited (PTF). PTF is based in Brighton where a team of fully trained and supervised fundraisers work each day throughout the year raising funds on our behalf.

We take pride in the quality, experience and enthusiasm of our telephone fundraisers and go to great lengths to ensure they are well-trained ambassadors for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

We speak with thousands of people every year – carefully selected people whom we believe may have an interest in supporting us.

We discuss with them the challenges faced by Great Ormond Street Hospital, including special projects such as our multi-million pound site redevelopment projects, and ask for their financial support.

Many of the people we speak with are happy to set up a regular gift to help us, and those that do not still have the opportunity to learn a great deal more about who we are and what we do. Our fundraisers can answer any questions people may have about our work and suggest other ways of becoming involved with the charity – such as volunteering, holding a fundraising event or leaving a gift to us in their Will.

We are very careful not to make people feel pressured:

  • Our fundraisers are not given personal targets
  • We do not pay commission
  • We have agreed a fixed cost with PTF for each call made
  • We follow strict codes of practice set out by the Institute of Fundraising

Your comments

Telephone Fundraising is a fantastic and cost-effective way of engaging with our supporters, as well as finding new ones. But, we appreciate that not everyone likes being called at home.

We welcome all feedback regarding our fundraising activities – positive or negative – so if you would like to comment on our activities please contact our Supporter Care team by phone: 020 7239 3131 or email: supportercare@gosh.org