Something to Smile About

“Training the call center staff that’s going to be managing your inbound calls, and working with them and scripting them properly, is very important,” she explains. “They should be very aware and educated about [your] mission.”

Other avenues
Though television is a successful medium for Operation Smile, Shawyer points out that it cannot stand alone and is just one part of the organization’s overall, integrated fundraising strategy.

“DRTV must play off your other marketing strategies,” she says. “You must integrate it with direct mail and follow-up e-mails and any other channel that’s available.”

According to Schultz, the TV spots have played an important role in another of Operation Smile’s strategies — corporate partnerships. Representatives of companies see them and want to get involved — relationships that Operation Smile is happy to cultivate.

Since the organization was created, it has worked on developing strong relationships with public and private companies that provide supplies, pharmaceuticals and other in-kind gifts.

The Abbott Fund, an Illinois-based nonprofit funded by the Abbott health care company, has donated nearly $4 million in products and in-kind donations, and more than $450,000 in cash donations since 1993. The fund’s in-kind donations have included its anesthesia product Sevoflurane and equipment like IV fluids, catheters, and pediatric medical equipment and pharmaceuticals that are used in cleft lip and cleft palate surgery.

Through Abbott Fund’s support, Operation Smile’s Pediatric Advanced Life Support/Advanced Cardiac Life Support program has been able to train hundreds of medical professionals in critical life-saving techniques, and to purchase needed training equipment.

“They see [our] stories and want to help,” Schultz says.

Operation Smile actively seeks partnerships that are a good fit for its brand and a “good partner for the mission.” It also responds appropriately to those companies that approach it and are good matches for the organization. It acknowledges its corporate partners in the Donor Spotlight section of its Web site.