Although a bad economy impacts everyone and everything in one way or another, nonprofits that rely on the kindness of friends and strangers to keep the bills paid have it especially tough. And so it is with Colorado Public Radio. The statewide service just completed an extensive fundraising drive, but according to an internal memo issued last week under the signatures of veep Sue Coughlin and membership director Jim East, it's already beefing up an initiative dubbed "CPR's Drive to Thrive: Campaign of Confidence." In addition to extensive behind-the-scenes efforts, CPR has scheduled three more on-air fundraising sessions -- one day in April and two in May -- prior to appeals that'll eat up ten straight days in early June. Listeners who hate interruptions in regular programming will no doubt be frosted, but probably not surprised.
Click "Continue" to read the CPR memo:
From: Sue CoughlinDate: Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 4:15 PM
Subject: Membership plans for the remainder of FY09
To: CPR Denver Office Staff Only, CPR Grand Junction
We'd like to let you know about our fund raising plans for the remainder of this fiscal year. We are facing unprecedented budget challenges as our largest revenue source -- individual giving -- has declined in the wake of the economic downturn. Despite very successful pledge drives, total revenue is not keeping pace with our budgeted needs and we are making adjustments as necessary. While CPR is fundamentally healthy, we are not immune to the consequences of a turbulent economy.
The projected revenue needed to meet a revised membership budget is $1.6 million for the remainder of this fiscal year. We have identified the tactics that will provide the best path to our goal and are calling this effort CPR's Drive to Thrive: Campaign of Confidence. Activities will include customized mail and telemarketing appeals, campaign-related promos, a $100,000 member challenge, targeted major donor solicitations, a timely web presence and a few additional days of on-air fund raising.
The Campaign of Confidence will begin in earnest on April 1st and continue through June 30th with a final countdown during our June Drive. Leading up to the June Drive, we will have two short mini campaigns -- one day of fund-raising on April 22nd and a two day effort May 13th & 14th -- designed to create a sense of urgency through the power of live fund raising. We are confident that the April and May efforts will leave a manageable goal for CPR's June 3rd-12th Drive.
As the financial picture becomes more clear toward the end of the month, we will be scheduling an all-staff update.
Thanks for your support of the Membership Department's efforts to meet this unique challenge!
Jim & Sue
