Have you ever had this experience?  You call a company’s Customer Service line in hopes of speaking to a real live person.  To your infinite horror and dismay you reach… a machine.  And not just a machine, but a voicemail box booby-trapped with a series of options and preference settings.  “Press 1 for tech support; press 2 for billing; press 3 for a playlist of elevator music…”  And in the end, it takes you endless amounts of time and button pushing to finally reach a real person, if you ever do at all!

We totally understand!  And as real live people ourselves, we know how frustrating that can be.  That’s why we’ve made it simple for you.  We want you to able to reach a real live Customer Service Representative on the first shot.  At eFundraising, simply call our toll-free number, 1-888-875-1245, and press option #2.  Tah-dah!  In just two steps, an actual human being will come on the line to answer all your questions.

So now you know how to quickly reach our Customer Service team.

But how can you get the most out of them when you call?  Well, why don’t I introduce you to each of our team members to give you a little background on who you are speaking to, as well as some tips to help you get the most out of your call.

Introducing….

Randall

Favorite food: Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Favorite place: Montreal

Favorite non profit: The Foundation for the Eradication of Kenny G

Question for Randall: How can our customers get the most from our Customer Service team?

Randall’s Answer: Be prepared!  Please have your reference number handy when you call.  This will make things more efficient for you.

Victor

Favorite food: Oriental Cuisine

Favorite place: France (can you tell by his picture?)

Favorite non profit: Unicef

Question for Victor: How can our customers get the most from our Customer Service team?

Victor’s Answer: Have some understanding.  Knowing our dedication is to you, our customers, please remember that some factors are simply out of our control, and we will always do our best to give you the best.

Jenny

Favorite food: Sushi

Favorite place: Ireland

Favorite non profit: Locks of Love (Check out Jenny’s hair!! She is growing it so that in a few months she can donate it to make wigs for cancer patients.  We’ll have the picture update when she does)

Question for Jenny: How can our customers get the most from our Customer Service team?

Jenny’s Answer: Check your orders.  Call us for delivery information after placing your order so we can give you one-on-one assistance!

Johanna

The big cheese! Johanna is our Customer Service Manager. It’s amazing how she always keeps her cool… and her smile!

Favorite food: Indian

Favorite place: Chicago

Favorite non profit: Sarcoma Foundation

Question for Johanna: How can our customers get the most from our Customer Service team?

Johanna’s Answer: Don’t hesitate!  Our team strives to provide top of the line customer care, so do not hesitate to call us for help with executing a successful and efficient fundraiser.  We can guide you with tips on the best places to fundraise, getting organized with campaign calendars, sparking group motivation and much more.

There you have it!  Please feel free to share your eFundraising Customer Service experiences with us.  As wonderful and helpful as our team is, they need your input too!  Getting your feedback is the only surefire way we can continue to improve our service to you.

Take care,

Melissa

We just received a very special certificate: our membership renewal from AFRDS.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with AFRDS, it stands for Association of Fund-Raising Distributors & Suppliers.

Receiving this certificate confirms that eFundraising is in good standing and follows the AFRDS Code of Ethics.  What does that mean?  As an example, two of the most important mandates (in our opinion) of AFRDS state that:

- All our fundraising activities are guided by truth, accuracy, fairness and the highest integrity.
- We provide quality products and professional services that ensure maximum effectiveness for our clients’ investment of time and money.

These two mandates aren't just part of a code of ethics.  They're an integral part of our culture at eFundraising. 

We are proud to say that we have been a member of AFRDS since 1990.  How do you know if your fundraising company is a member?  Just look for the AFRDS logo on the company's website.

Did you already know about AFRDS?  How important is membership to you when choosing a fundraising company?  Does it sway your opinion in any way?

Let us know!

Melissa

We have started sending out our new Fall 2008 kit! We are really proud of it - it includes our latest products, tips from our experts, plus how to get your free ebook, "How Can I Convince Someone to Give to Us When There are So Many Worthy Causes?" and so much more.

If you want your very own Fall 2008 fundraising info kit, just fill out our free kit form.

Once you've taken a look at this year's masterpiece (okay, maybe I am a bit biased), let us know what you like and don't like, as well as what you would like to see in next year's kit!

Take care,

Melissa

What I love most about my job is knowing that I am helping people reach their fundraising goals as well as their dreams.

We currently have an ongoing promotion for our online magazine program on magfundraising.com, where the top magazine seller each month wins an iPhone, and the top magazine seller of a certain time period wins a 42” Flat Screen TV.

Our latest lucky winner, Betty Michelli, from Help4Anthony, won both the iPhone and TV! See what she has to say about her experience:

“I would like to extend my profound thanks and gratitude to www.magfundraising.com.  The fundraiser has allowed us to raise money to help with my four year old grandson’s medical bills.  He was diagnosed with autism and epilepsy and if he gets early intervention for his treatment, he will be able to function with normal children in schools and society.  Unfortunately, the treatment is very expensive and not covered by insurance. 

The fundraiser has proven to be very simple, easy to do. All you have to do is send emails to all your friends and family.  The fundraiser site does all the work for you.  You don’t have to worry about collecting money, delivering merchandise.  All you have to do is sit back and wait for your monthly check from the 40% profits.

The site offers a wide variety of magazines for all age groups or interest.  I had no trouble getting people to order once everyone saw how much money they were saving at this fundraiser site. Our total sales amounted to $4,027.00.  In fact, I was the top seller in my group and won both the IPhone and flat screen TV for this month.  I elected to accept the cash in lieu of the items so that I could contribute the money to Anthony’s medical expenses.  Not only did my grandson receive 40% of the profits which totaled $1,610.80 but also the $1,400.00 cash in lieu of the prizes.

Thank you www.magfundraising.com for your help in giving my grandson an opportunity to obtain his treatments so that he can break through the walls he is encased in and allow him to be able to enjoy life like any other child his age.  I strongly recommend this website to everyone and I will continue to use this fundraiser”

This testimonial brought tears to my eyes. All of us here really hope Anthony’s therapy allows him to lead a normal life really soon. Check out Anthony’s Online Fundraiser.

Would you like to be the next iPhone and flat screen TV winner? Check out our online fundraising magazine program.

Have a wonderful day!

Melissa

The “Win Your Fundraiser” contest is one of my favorite promotions our company has to offer. Since all of our customers contact us for help to raise funds for a specific cause, who is going to say no to winning back the cost of their fundraiser to help out their cause even further?

This contest is not only great for the winners, but also for us to get to know more about our customers and their fundraising goals. At the end of the contest we post the winners as well as our favorite entries on our website. This helps create awareness for their causes, and the more that people are aware, the better the chances are of raising more funds.

So how do you participate? It’s really simple. All you have to do is answer 3 questions:

1) Why should you win this contest?
2) If you win, what will your group do with the winnings?
3) What did you like best about your fundraising experience with us?

You can find all the details on how to submit it to us as well as the official rules here.

In this blog, we will post excerpts of a few entries as they come in to help create awareness for different causes – and to help give you the courage to send in your own entry.

Check out how adorable our last winners were!

Good Luck with the contest, and email me if you have any questions.

Take care,

Melissa