The strategies producing the strongest documented results share one trait: they treat every donor conversation, on the phone or in person, with the same rigor as a face-to-face major gift solicitation, rather than defaulting to mass, generic outreach.
That discipline is behind Catapult's best-performing programs: an AF Connect annual fund program achieved an 85% pledge rate with lapsed donors for Special Olympics of Indiana, nearly double the 45% industry average, while lifting average gift size by 39%. A Legacy Call planned-giving program identified $6.8 million in planned gifts for an international ministry across two calling phases.
Multi-channel reinforcement matters too: pairing a phone conversation with personalized digital touchpoints (text, email, ringless voicemail) consistently outperforms either channel alone, since donors respond differently depending on the moment they're reached.
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