Understanding Call Time in 15 Minutes

Most campaigns raise 60–70% of their money through call time, the time candidates spend directly calling potential donors to build relationships and ask them for contributions. This 15-minute microlearning is a quick guide to how call time works, why it’s non-negotiable, and how much it can impact whether or not you raise the funds you need to win.

The course breaks call time into 5 steps, starting with advance donor research and ending with organized notes for following up. You’ll learn what to track on every call, how to follow up with donors who gave, pledged, or said no, and why so many campaigns use NGP’s Virtual Call Time Manager to keep donor data in one place. It pairs with NDTC’s resources Call Time Checklist for Your Political Campaign and Making the Ask – Prep Sheet, so you can start preparing your asks right away.

In 15 minutes, you’ll be able to:

• Explain what call time is and why it drives most of a campaign’s fundraising

• Research donors before a call to set the right ask amount

• Track what every call needs on record, from voicemails left to pledge amounts

• Follow up with donors based on whether they contributed, pledged, or declined

• Organize call time notes so staff and volunteers can pick up where you left off