May 2002 - Issue 2

Ronald McDonald House of Memphis Raised Over $90,000 Online in Less Than 30 Hours

By Tania Tolstoshev

The Ronald McDonald House of Memphis has been conducting the Rock 103 WGER Wake Up Crew Radiothon for 10 years. Two years ago, the radio station enabled online pledge capabilities on their web site, and listeners were given the option to donate by calling a toll-free number or by visiting www.rock103.com. During the 2000 Radiothon, $50,000 was raised online, and this year, from a total of $595,000 raised, $94,000 was received through online pledges.

Convio recently spoke with Carol Kirby, Executive Director of the Ronald McDonald House of Memphis, about this unprecedented online fundraising success.

CONVIO: How did you plan this online fundraising campaign?

KIRBY: The online fundraising component was really just part of a larger fundraising event. Ronald McDonald House of Memphis has been conducting Radiothons with Rock 103 for 10 years, but the online portion was an enhancement begun two years ago. The radio station has a very loyal listener base and a great web site. Its web site achieves the second highest hit rate of any radio station site in the Clear Channel network (1,170 radio stations). With such a large group of loyal, web-savvy listeners, it made sense to facilitate online pledging. And in terms of promoting the campaign, we made sure to call attention to the online option on every marketing piece we produced, in every medium. We printed the web address on all marketing materials, and the radio station promoted it on the air.

CONVIO: How was the Radiothon promoted on the Rock 103 web site?

KIRBY: The homepage contained an icon linking visitors to the Ronald McDonald House Radiothon page, which included information on the House and provided a link to the Ronald McDonald House homepage at http://www.rmhmemphis.org/. Additionally, pledge levels and premiums were listed on the site, along with pictures of the premium gifts. We're considering offering additional incentives to listeners who pledge online in future years, and maybe an online fundraising auction.

CONVIO: Did you try to stress online pledging over offline pledging?

KIRBY: I think we promoted each option equally. Besides the toll-free number, we arranged for cellular customers to reach us toll-free by dialing *KIDS. The Radiothon runs from 6 a.m. on a Thursday to 10 a.m. the next day, and Friday morning is always our busiest time, bringing in as much as $150,000 in an hour. If any callers received a busy signal when attempting to give over the phone, they heard the station while on hold, including the on-air promo of how to pledge online.

CONVIO: What advice would you give to other nonprofits planning similar online fundraising campaigns?

KIRBY: I would encourage them to thoroughly investigate options and legal issues before embarking on an online fundraising campaign. Next, I would urge them to make sure they market the campaign properly. It's important to pay as much attention to the online portion of your fundraising efforts as you would to any other campaign. Promote online giving options as much as possible through all points of contact with supporters and, most of all, make it easy for supporters to give online.