Is it necessary to pay for telemarketing services from a firm?

Summary:

If volunteers are properly trained, it may not be necessary to hire a telemarketing firm.

I want to hire a telemarketing firm. My Board members are concerned
about how much money the firm will take. What do I do?

Ina Frank comments:

Don't hire one -- for exactly that reason. Your hard-earned dollars
should not be unnecessarily diminished.

Volunteers are just fine, if properly trained. And, there's virtually no
cost except advance mailing and a nice gift for the hosting business.
OK, maybe some bagels or doughnuts & coffee.

A small price to pay for marvelous good will and, most important, the
opportunity to connect current devoted volunteers with future ones plus
maybe unearth a potential major ($10,000) supporter or two. Most
potential givers at that level really respect an organization that uses
volunteers wisely.

But an employee of a telemarketing firm (Paul Giuliana of Lester Telemarketing) counters:
Your
suggestion is to use volunteers and not a telemarketing firm because the
firm would take too much money. I suggest that this is narrow thinking. I
have been an Account Executive in the Fund Raising Division with a
Telemarketing Firm for nearly ten years. I have found that all too often
people view this as an "either/or" question. Most of my clients use
volunteers. They use our services too because the number of volunteer
calling hours available is far too few to reach a significant portion of
their constituency. Our calling is far more effective when viewed in terms
of net dollars than a "sorry we missed you" mailing. We do not charge a
percentage. We charge by the hour. We charge for the work we do. We are
proud to provide great people who are interested to learn about the
organizations they represent.