No. 350Life Outreach International

By Nicole Lewis

How it reached the top

Changing the format of its television show from preaching to casual conversations about faith and other topics has helped this

Christian international relief charity reach more people who might not otherwise have heard about its work. Viewers of the show contributed $12-million last year in response to appeals on the television program. And while the program cost about $2-million more to produce than it raised immediately, charity officials believe that many of those viewers have made subsequent contributions in response to follow-up mailings from the charity. Over all, Life Outreach International saw contributions climb nearly 25 percent last year.

Guests on “Life Today with James and Betty Robison” — a half-hour program featuring the charity’s founder and his wife — have included the actor Robert Duvall and George W. Bush, who appeared during his presidential campaign. The show, which is broadcast five times a week on cable stations including Pax TV and Fox Family, cost $14.4-million to air last year. Taped at a studio at the charity’s headquarters in Fort Worth, the program features topics such as health, grief, and relationships, as well as a short fund-raising appeal for one of the group’s programs.

Officials at the charity believe that getting rid of the preaching format helped attract viewers who

might not necessarily tune in to a sermon. “Getting out into the secular environment has been a really successful thing for us to do,” says Terry Redmon, vice president in charge of fund raising. While television now accounts for nearly a third of the group’s donation income, Life Outreach International also depends on revenue from direct-mail appeals it sends to donors twice a month and on its efforts to solicit big gifts.Biggest fund-raising challenges

Initially, Life Outreach International relied too heavily on raising money by selling products like books or CD’s on the television show, says Mr. Redmon, who this month changes jobs to run a for-profit marketing company. “We kind of felt like we were the home-shopping network of Christian TV,” he says. Although the program still sells some items, such as audiotapes about dealing with anger, music CD’s, and a throw blanket featuring an American flag, the charity shifted the program’s focus about a year and a half ago to conversations between the Robisons and their guests. “Our quantity [of items] went down, but our quality went way up,” says Mr. Redmon, who adds that the drop in product sales has not hurt the group financially. Now the charity is looking for ways to convert product buyers into donors, he says.

After the September 11 terrorist attacks

Charity officials say the recent news events pointed out a snag in the television fund-raising strategy: inflexibility. Since the program is taped weeks in advance, it took charity officials 10 days to produce a special show on the attacks and get it on the air. Officials are now investigating ways to produce and air a new show in 48 hours. The group also found that when a crisis hits, audiences that might have watched its program instead turn to the news, which hurts fund raising. “We’ve seen a drop-off in support,” says Mr. Redmon. “People are not watching the show, they are watching CNN.” Contributions to support the group’s work overseas — which includes building hospitals and drilling water wells — were 40 percent lower the week following the tragedy compared with the previous week. As of mid-October, fund raising had only climbed back to 80 percent of where it was before the attacks.

Life Outreach International officials say they worry that international relief groups might have trouble raising money in the current climate. Says Mr. Redmon: “I think some people will put a tighter string on their wallet as far as supporting people outside the United States because there is such a patriotic feeling right now in our country.”