A company is defined by the intelligence, work ethic, creativity and integrity of the people who work there. MDS is a company that does not pretend to be something that it is not. We're not rocket scientists and we didn't invent the telephone. Most of us leave at quitting time to go to the place we much prefer over work, home and our families. We understand who we are and what we are about and we stick to what we are good at, which is raising money for non-profit organizations over the telephone.

Our People on the Phones

At the core of any great company are two or three undeniable strengths that distinguish you from the rest. At MDS one of these strengths is our Telephone Fundraising Specialists (TFS). They are by far the best professional telephone fundraisers in the business.

We are very particular when it comes to who we hire because we want to provide our clients with the best possible results and donor care available. We start by paying our TFS's better than any other telephone fundraising company in the country. This allows us to be incredibly selective during the hiring process. It takes a certain kind of personality and a genuine commitment to the missions and values of our clients. MDS only hires about 5% of all our applicants, which we believe is the highest hiring standard in the industry.

The next step is our comprehensive, hands on training program. This allows us to fully cultivate the skills and professionalism we require from every TFS. Our full-time training coaches spend countless hours with each new hire until we feel they are ready to be promoted to a full-time Telephone Fundraising Specialist. Even after a new hire is promoted, continued training occurs throughout the length of their employment with MDS.

"Every phone call I make or receive is an opportunity to make a positive impact."

Patricia joined MDS in 2013
Communication Specialist

Quality and Coaching Philosophy

Anyone can claim to have the "highest quality," but what does it really take to get there?

Quality is not the end result of some creative trademarked slogan. Quality is the end result of a lot of hard work. Plain and simple. It's not about empty boasts. It's about consistency, diligence, patience and insight.

We believe there are five principles that build outstanding quality:

1.) Well paid, professional agents. MDS has the highest starting pay of any major telephone fundraising company.

2.) Employees committed to the causes they represent. Many of our clients tell us that our call centers are the most cause and mission oriented that they have ever encountered.

3.) Comprehensive training in telephone fundraising techniques and thorough training regarding the specific organization.

4.) Strong quality control management tools including digital recording of all calls and proactive use of those tools for the improvement of the agent.

5.) Zero tolerance of rudeness or integrity issues.

MDS excels at all five of these principles.

We go way beyond simply encouraging integrity, we assure it! And we have a zero tolerance policy for people who lack integrity whether it's an employee, a vendor or a client. The end Result is simple: outstanding performance, virtually no complaints and the best call possible.

Quality and Coaching Departments

One hundred percent of our Quality Assurance department and Supervisory staff are former Telephone Fundraising Specialists. They were promoted because of their quality and excellence on the phones as well as their leadership skills. Without exception, we have found that the best people to work with and improve our TFS's are those who have been in the trenches and understand exactly what it takes.

The dedicated professionals of our Supervisory and Quality Assurance departments average in excess of ten years employment with MDS.

Client Services

The Client Services team at MDS is comprised of highly motivated and experienced fundraising professionals that are committed to the missions of the organizations we serve. We see ourselves as an extension of the organizations we team with.

Every calling campaign with MDS is managed by an experienced Account Manager who takes the project from start to finish. The Account Manager develops and oversees every aspect of your telephone fundraising campaign in coordination with your organization.

MDS Account Managers are responsible for understanding your organization's development goals, scheduling and implementing campaigns, writing telephone scripts and gift fulfillment letter packages, analyzing performance of calling programs and making ongoing adjustments to improve campaign results. They interface with all departments at MDS to ensure the implementation of campaign details and conduct calling campaign training for Telephone Fundraising Specialists.

IT / Data Analysis

MDS is committed to providing our clients with cutting edge technology. We are continually improving and upgrading our systems to meet the growing needs of the non-profits we serve.

As a PCI compliant service provider, we guarantee top level security of your donor database. We provide secure data transfers and real-time credit card processing with approved providers.

In addition to the standard reporting we provide to each of our clients, MDS offers complimentary custom reporting and file customization.

Our IT and Data Processing department is made up of experienced hardworking individuals. They are also experts at operating and improving the technological foundation that keeps MDS at the forefront of our industry.

Modeling & Analytics

MDS competitive pricing includes our ability to build custom models to meet the objectives of the organizations we serve. We develop custom models for our clients to enhance ROI, reactivation, response rates, average gift and more.

Each model is custom built to fit the unique objectives of the organization. The models and subsequent calling strategies are flexible and can be adjusted until we reach the desired end results. 

Fulfillment

Located at our headquarters, MDS runs a state of the art fulfillment center that mails tens of thousands of telephone follow-up letters each week.

We make sure that every piece of mail that MDS produces is top quality by using the best printers and direct mail equipment available. Quality is our number one priority. Our fulfillment staff ensures that the printing process runs smoothly and accurately by monitoring the automated process very closely.

In addition to a series of rigorous quality control measures, the staff randomly pulls mail pieces to check for accuracy of donor information as well as the overall appearance of the fulfillment package.

Finance

The Finance Department at MDS works to ensure accurate and timely billing to our clients.

They also diligently complete mountains of regulatory paperwork required to maintain our state and federal compliance. In addition, they provide our clients with any needed support on filing state financial reports.

Our Finance team performs detailed budget to actual financial presentations which enable the management staff to control costs and keep our pricing to our clients as low as possible.

Executive Management / Ownership

MDS was founded by Jay Mount in 1992 and is owned by Jay & Laurie Mount. Jay serves as the President of the company and actively oversees the day-to-day operations of the business. His responsibilities include supervision of the senior management team and direct management of the donor acquisition portion of the business.

Laurie Mount serves as Chief Results Officer, a position dedicated solely to maximizing client results through creative strategy, extensive data analysis and the creation of a dedicated agent system in the call centers. In addition, Laurie has garnered a reputation as one of the finest script/copy writers in the country and was known by one client as ”The Velvet Sledgehammer.“