call center representative

human resources generalist

communication specialist

project manager

MDS Communications

A typical day at work would be a day of high energy flow, continuous phone integrity with the donors; and an overflow of positive but demanding challenges amongst the callers.

I have learned during my employment at this company that Missions that are severe, enduring, painful, and joyful can be dialogue to make others understand and find compassion and help those that are less fortunate.

Management on a whole are not very approachable, however, those that are approachable are helpful, understanding, and are able to assure that the company's mission will stand strong and will be adhere to 100%.

My co-workers come from many different facets of life, diversity is definitely a strong impact in this company and I love the fact that we can work together in a group, individually, and some of us reach out and help those who are struggling for reason known or unknown.

The hardest part of this job is the continuous reading of the same script for hours at a time and days at a time.  My mind is set to be utilized with multi-tasking and monotony of the same vision over and over when reaching out can sometimes cause an onset of anxiety.  I need to be versatile on a continuous basis.

The most enjoyable part of my job is being able to share a concern, need, regardless of the urgency and still make a donor smile at the end of the conversation with just mere words of concern and understanding of their situation.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Ability to work remotely, otherwise the office is very casual

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The constant number analysis by management. They use that data to “grade” your work, on which your bonus $ is calculated. Drive for constant improvement— even when succeeding and frequently being in the Top 10 Agents with the best stats. You’re only as good as your last “gift”. Also it’s stressful cold-calling and asking for 2-5x the amount of the donors last contribution… there are specified dollar asks that MUST be asked, even when it doesn’t make sense or seems unreasonable. Example: previous donor contributed $10. First dollar ask will be $50, second dollar ask is $35, third dollar ask is $25. You have to ask for each of those amounts before you can simply ask the donor if they’d be able to contribute an amount that works for their budget. The calculated dollar asks are generated by a computer and frequently are awkward. Example: dollar ask is $652.14 we MUST ask for that exact amount or face reprimand… even though asking for $650 is so much more natural and has much better donor response. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Relaxed in terms of dress code. VERY strict on break times — they actually encourage you to work through your breaks, even though the law mandates breaks for full-time employees. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Arrive 10min before clock-in time to get settled and be ready to punch in exactly at the start time and take calls repeatedly until break, lunch or end of shift.

Depending on how well you get donations and what schedule you choose to work, you can get some really nice weekly paychecks. $11 first two weeks of training, then they bump you up to 12 full time or part time mon-fri - $13 Mon-fri and mandatory saturday 9-5pm - or $14 Mon-fri 1-9pm and mandatory saturday and you can choose which ever day of the week you can want off. They give people who have bad backgrounds or who have gotten in trouble with the law a second chance but it's meaningless to someone who wants to be treated with respect over keeping a job. Management was so bad they had to bring someone from corporate office to babysit our floor manager because he was disrespecting and belittling his employees, playing favorites, and becoming way too involved in people's medical and personal problems to the point he needed to control the situation and make decisions for these people. Management has no sense of boundaries and if it wasn't for HR, the branch would be a **** show and people would be leaving more often. Be prepared to take the fall for the miscommunication between your superiors giving you directions. If you're ready for Trump Rally's and conservative ideologies lodged down your throat as well as in meetings; this is the job for you. Every month is a "let's give everyone a trophy for doing good." They claim it's a family atmosphere, but after a while you don't feel like you are treated like family and if I have to abide by "The 4 Principles of MDS" and they don't have to - then it's a company that can't be held responsible for taking care and treating their employees fairly.

A typical 8 hour day was taking numerous outbound calls to donors who donated in the past or showed interest in the particular organization. Many of the organizations we called for were humanitarian, and ministries. Some of the scripts were extremely wordy and by the time you read it all either you talked yourself out of a donation or the donor already hung up. You have to be quick when a donor rejects your offers. Having good voice quality (a nice voice) and being friendly helps tremendously in your calls. You will work 40 hours a week but you must get 37.5 hours logged phone time in order to qualify for bonus. Personally, I got lost in the numbers and percentages when it came to getting bonuses. If you get less than 20 hours logged on the phone, you get written up and eventually fired. I noticed a lot of favoritism. I think some of the leadership were a bit conceited and looked down on people. Training was good and I enjoyed it. We use to have to purchase our own head phones but MDS was installing permanent headphones so we didn't have to buy our own anymore. Co workers were nice people. No complaints there. The hardest part of the job is getting use to turned down frequently and responding the objections of the donors. You get two 10 minute breaks and a half  hour lunch. But if you want to gett your 37.5 logged hours, dont take your breaks or come in on Saturday.

MDS fundraises for some of the best nonprofits in the country. They provide the opportunity to do work that you can feel good about: raising money that helps children and families all over the world.

The pay is about industry standard or just a little below. Benefits are not great - no retirement plan, expensive insurance without very good coverage, restrictive PTO, no short term disability or maternity/paternity leave. But hey, they offer benefits! You just have to stay at least a year before you get them if you're on the call floor.

During the interview at the office I was given a tour of the break room with a soda fountain machine and proudly told, "we have unlimited soda!" Very generous. Once a month they provide free lunch for the entire company during the monthly meeting and performance awards. You'll also get a free shirt or two each year.

Most of the people who work here are genuinely kind and friendly. There is a family feel here, which can be good or not so good... In fact, many people who work here are related to each other or the owners. 

Overall, MDS is a good company if you're looking for work that feels like it makes a difference. There are probably better options out there if you're looking for a company with an employee-centric culture or a clear career path with promotion or financial opportunities. 

A typical day at work is mainly sitting on the phones. Some can not handle how tedious it can be, especially being in a cubicle. Others have worked here for 8+ years and still come back every single day. The hardest part for people is the tedious reading a script to someone on the phone, and the rejection. If you can learn to laugh about it and tell yourself "they are literally paying me to read a script to people on the phone" you will be okay. There are coaches there that will help you the best they can to make money. The management does their best to keep the positivity up. They will play games, cheer you on, get to know you and be your friend. The culture of this place is amazing. Like i said, some get bogged down by constantly being on the phones and speaking to a couple negative people that might ruin your mood. Ultimately, you get very very flexible scheduling, you can make 10-13/hour plus up to 9/hr bonus, all you have to do is smile while reading a script to people and get paid fairly well! Like I say, only certain people can do this job. You need to have a positive outlook on it.

A typical day at work with MDS included getting on the phones and calling people to ask for support for non-profit organizations that MDS represented. Our team leaders were very supportive and would go out of their way to help you succeed in your job. Co-workers were all very fun and energetic. This was a very easy going atmosphere.
The hardest part of the job was actually asking people to give money to the organizations we called for. The organizations included St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Mercy Corp, Salvation Army, and Heifer International, they are great organizations but with our economy it is difficult to get the public to give money. In order to keep your job you have to have a 90% average if it drops for more than 2 weeks in a row they have cause to let you go.  Most team leaders will work with you to improve your skills, they are a great bunch of people.  The best part is you have the option to work from home, the hours are very flexible, the pay is pretty good for this type of work, and there are bonuses.

This place was disorganized. I didn't know who my boss was. You find a place to work somewhere in the room. Sometimes they had more workers than desks so they just kind of put you in a class where they talked about the company. A lot of people just float through the cracks. 

After proving yourself in the office you can work from home. 

The morning and afternoon huddles starts with prayer. The entire company has scheduled breaks. Everyone gets off the phone at 10 am for breaks then lunch then afternoon breaks etc. When the breaks were over they would announce you're break is over, over the loud speaker, which I didn't appreciate.  

You're fundraising for Conservative causes like the Republican National Committee Right to life anti-abortion groups the Salvation Army. Veterans Groups the Tea Party. Fox News all day everyday in the break room. I did it for a few months 2012. 

I left because they don't offer Paid time off PTO ever or vacation days. Other than Christmas you're working on major holidays because that is when people are home. Health care and benefits are pretty weak.

If you are an Evangelical Christian this is the Company We had to pray on our breaks 3 times a day. Theyoften did not pay us our commissions our commissions. Management is a gossiping click of extremely radial religion. There was no recognition given for a $20,000 donation from City Team Ministries that I raised. MDS managers are mean and yell. They are not well trained and no support at all. One of them was kissing her boyfriend in the call center. He was not a good employee but never got in trouble because his Manager was his girlfriend. It is a revolving door. Employees come and go. It is micromanaged but if a new person needed help they said to figure it out.
It is filthy. The keyboards have food stuck in them. The carpet smells. Headsets are in bad condition unless you buy your own from them and they are expensive. Computers are not maintained and the server constantly went down. Lots of very young people work there. They are not serious about working and they are loud . Bad Company. I resigned.

A typical day is talking on the phone and raising money for various nonprofit organizations. I learned a lot about the various organizations we called for. The coaches for the most part were good, but depends on which *pod* you worked in. A typical call center with a lot of noise and loud co-workers who could care less that you're on the phone trying to raise money. The hardest part of the job was trying to reach you're numbers to qualify for bonus each week as the company changed it, and now only a few people make bonus every week. No room for advancements. It takes a full year before you qualify for benefits. If you work in the afternoon it is hard sometimes to get a seat, it maybe one to two hours before you can start working. I wish the company did drug testing, because it was very disruptive to the call center when someone would come in high on drugs. One thing I did like about the company is, if you are a person in recovery they are there for you - second chance.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Call center representative 4 salaries reported	$18.50 per hour
Human resources generalist 10 salaries reported	$65,000 per year
Communication specialist 5 salaries reported	$16.40 per hour
Project manager 1 salary reported	$38,000 per year

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