Preparing for Call Time - National Democratic Training Committee

Preparing for Call Time

By Dallas Thompson
60 min
Fundraising

Course Outline

Content
  • 1 Video
  • 2 Quizzes
  • 1 Activity (45 min)
What You Need
  • Template Rolodex Spreadsheet

What You’ll Learn

  • How to research a prospective donor’s contact info, biography, and giving history
  • How to create call sheets for your candidate
  • How to prioritize a list of fundraising calls

Why This is Important

Investing time in donor research can make all the difference in hitting the fundraising goals you need to, which will lead to you having the resources you require to conduct voter outreach and bring home the win on your campaign. Your candidate’s limited time is one of the most precious resources you have, and it is critical to your campaign’s success that being prepared for call time allows you to be as efficient as possible with your candidate’s time.

Key Resources

  • Example Call Sheet
  • Annotated Call Sheet
  • NDTC Call Sheet Template
  • Spreadsheet of State-Specific Sites for Researching Donors’ Giving Histories
  • Call Sheet Rubric

Related Trainings

  • Finding New Donors — Identify the potential donors that you need to research before your candidate can dial them up in call time
  • Staffing Call Time — Preparing for call time is just the beginning; learn how to support your candidate while they’re making fundraising calls, too
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Dallas Thompson

Trainer

Dallas Thompson is the Founder and CEO of Bright Compass, a boutique HR firm for political campaigns and progressive workspaces. Bright Compass focuses on anti-harassment training, leadership coaching, and comprehensive HR and Operations support to create inclusive organizations that live up to their values while executing on their mission.

Dallas brings more than a decade of management and fundraising experience from both the political and nonprofit fields, including as Chief of Staff for STG (formerly Smoot Tewes Group) in Washington, D.C. In 2016, she was Hillary Clinton’s Operations Director in North Carolina, where she oversaw operations of a 400-strong team working to elect Democrats up and down the ticket. Dallas has also served as Finance Director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party, National Director of Fundraising Development for the Leadership for Educational Equity, and Development Director for the New Organizing Institute. Dallas is a proud AmeriCorps alumna.