Do You Know Christa Heibel?
Christa Heibel, past President and founder of CH Consulting, LLC, is considered an expert in building integrated sales and marketing campaigns for both small and large organizations by incorporating technology with marketing efforts. An accomplished speaker, writer, and sales trainer, Christa has spent years developing cutting edge telemarketing techniques for political campaigns She has also led outbound sales efforts ranging from Fortune 100 telecommunication launches to market research and membership renewal campaigns. Prior to joining Connection Strategy, Christa worked extensively in the software and telecom industries managing call centers, outside sales and customer service teams. She has been consulting with national organizations on marketing and constituent services for nearly 20.
How is your new assignment of heading up new business development for Connection Strategy going?
It’s great! I am so excited to be back in the client side of business.
I have spent the last few years working in the operations side of the business. Being in and out of call center management for almost 20 years now, it gives me an increased confidence as I work with a client to develop the right solutions…because I have confidence in what I am selling. I KNOW the team that works with me will deliver what I package for our clients. The plan is to grow our client list to include more colleges/universities, non-profits and associations to take advantage of our years of fundraising and communication expertise. I am very excited to do that!
You mentioned non-profits, colleges/universities and associations. That seems broad- are they your focus? How does that fit?
Yes, these are our target markets. At a glance they may seem slightly random, but what we are focused on is donor and membership based organizations. Our sweet spot is fundraising, event turn-out, and membership communication. We thrive on integrated and targeted methods. This means our solutions yield high returns for our client’s investment.
The key is our intimate knowledge and experience in making phone, mail, and internet messaging work, together through strong data analysis and wise segmentation. Targeted messaging and increased results is what we do.
Sounds interesting. So you are more than a call center?
Absolutely! We are a full service, integrated communications firm. Call centers are at the core of our fundraising projects but we have developed data solutions that are CRITICAL for improved ROI. We have also recently released technology products to support good communication and services to help from planning to project management.
I know some people still have a hard time with telemarketing, but last year our parent company raised over $16 million dollars through phones. Despite DNC and heavy state registrations, I think it comes down to data, scripting/messaging, and the quality of the Agent on the call. Telemarketing is still one of the most successful and cost effective ways to communicate with your members, donors, and shareholders.
Does it work every time?
I would be telling a lie if I said it did, HOWEVER, if it doesn’t work then it is usually a sign that the scope of the project needs to be adjusted. This means a meeting is needed to re-evaluate the target audience, messaging, and approach.
A good firm works with you and ALL of the pieces of your communication plan to make the phones valuable. 99% of the time, with a good partnership between the organization and our firm, as well as the right integration of complimentary pieces (email, text/SMS, video, direct mail) phones will be a key component of your organization’s success.
Specific to fundraising efforts, what are the most critical pieces you bring to the table at Connection Strategy?
As I mentioned earlier, our well trained and highly experienced Fundraising Agents take care of a big part of the personal communication, in addition to the critical nature of good data. From who we are targeting, to a quality list, and analytic capabilities, we’re very good at this part.
We have also established HUGE success with automated calls for fundraisings efforts since 2005. We use pre-recorded messages with direct mail pieces and see a 15-35% increase in response rates for both college admissions and fundraising efforts. We even help collect tuition very effectively.
The newest piece to our efforts is Tele Town Hall which has become an instant success.
What is a Tele Town Hall?
This revolutionary, interactive communication tool allows you to engage with thousands of friends, supporters, members and donors, in live, real-time, personal communication with the touch of a button. Our system dials thousands of outbound numbers per minute. The custom designed dialer uses VoIP technology to automatically connect a pre-selected list to your live event. Pre-recorded messages are left on un-answered calls. A web-based control screen allows the VIP Speaker to see real-time stats: who accepts their invitation, who we left messages for, how many people are in the question queue, and how many people are participating via the web. VIP Speaker initiates call from any phone and can connect additional guest speakers located anywhere.
Sounds cool… is there anything else you are doing that people should know is part of your solutions offerings?
There are a few…
For starters, we have a sister company that does full service online design and development including online giving, E-commerce, SMS, member log-in, social networking, database integration, animation, video, and blog.
We are also leading the way in the era of digital marketing by implementing unparalleled techniques for social media. Text Messaging app development and deployment which is producing great results in reaching the age 35 and younger audiences. And of course, full service consulting services that help you every step of the way in defining and developing the right plan, to market research and through project management.
Let us know where in your process we can step in and assist!





Ron is one of a growing number of independent consultants who specialize in information services for the non-profit community. Since 1992, he has performed almost 200 data conversion projects and provided export / format / import services for an additional 500 clients. He has worked closely with The Stelter Company and Brian Lacy Associates, to ensure their clients are able to use results from donor research, data hygiene, and data enhancement services. Prior to forming his current company, Conversion Professionals, Ron was a project leader, customer support rep, systems analyst and applications programmer with Computer Usage Company and Computer Sciences Corp.
Bill Tedesco is Founder and CEO of DonorSearch.net, a prospect research firm offering the following services: wealth screening, online research, analytics and modeling. Prior to launching