Bill Scott
We are only weeks away from fundraising season. For eight weeks this time of year I actually put away my suitcase. Soon, my trustworthy suitcase will be taken out of the closet and I’ll hit the road coaching stations in more than one country on how to raise money this fall.
Your fundraiser should be the biggest event of the year. There is nothing that kills me more than when I find out a station has not promoted their fundraiser. If you had a huge concert coming to your market and you didn’t air any promo’s about the concert, you didn’t play song’s by the artists and your announcers never chatted about how great the concert was going to be, my guess is few would show up for the concert. As radio people we know you have to sell the snot out of an event in order to see great results and your fundraiser is no different.
- Your fundraiser should sound like the most exciting event that your station does all year long. You should have your listeners so excited about this special event that they cannot wait to give.
- Your announcers should be talking on the air about how amazing this fundraiser is going to be, how lives will be changed and how the listener can be apart of something that will impact their city.
- Promo’s should be running with listeners talking about their station and how it’s made an impact on their life.
- Promo’s need to be running explaining what it means to be a listener supported station and why donations are needed and where they are going.
- Have fun counting down the days until the fundraiser begins.
The more education you do in advance of the fundraiser the better success you will have. Never take for granted that your listeners know you are listener supported and what that means. It’s your job to promote the results you have seen by having your ministry on the air. Everyone wants to give to a winning team and you need to share the success you are having as a station and then give the listeners 100 percent of the credit for making that happen. You are only able to stay on the air with the good news of Christ because of the support you receive from your listeners. Use the phrase after playing a great listener story, “If you have ever given to this station, you made that happen.”
You must find away to promote your fundraising event in away that it will sound exciting and life changing. I have no doubt this can be the biggest event of the year for your station.
Like always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions, Bill@ShareMediaServices.com.
