June 18, 2013 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Radio is helping Crista Ministries attract new donors in droves—and the medium now works so well that the charity has stopped using direct mail to recruit supporters.
The charity raised $2.3-million from first-time donors last year, after spending $1.2-million on radio appeals. That’s unusual. Most charities say they lose money on appeals to seek new donors; it’s only when they persuade people to give repeatedly that donations finally outpace the cost of fundraising.
Ready Outlets
Radio came naturally to Crista because the charity operates four stations of its own and was already using the medium to share information about World Concern, the name for its international work in seven countries.
Crista also buys 30-second to two-minute spots, as well as bigger blocks of time, on about 25 other radio stations each year. Many are Christian radio stations, but a third have no religious ties. For example, Crista has had a good response from new donors by running short spots on American Family Radio, a network of about 100 stations.
“The price depends on the station, but there are some real windows like weekends on an AM station. That time can be very inexpensive,” says Mark Crozet, Crista’s vice president of fund development. “It is not costing that much, and you get time to tell the story.”
Bolder Pitch
Two years ago, Crista decided to use its radio broadcasts to ask donors to make monthly gifts for three years, a much bolder pitch than the three-month commitment it previously sought.
“We are getting a great response,” says Mr. Crozet.
More than 80 percent of the three-year donors, he says, have kept up their monthly gifts for the first two years.
Crista’s radio appeals attract 10,000 new donors each year, a significant boost to its pool of 70,000 active donors.
While recruiting donors with radio is working well, Mr. Crozet says the charity doesn’t know how far the approach can go. “Could we invest 10 times as much and make 10 times as much?” he asks. “I’m not sure you could get 100,000 new donors per year, but you can probably get 15,000.”
Mr. Crozet says he would also like to see more of the radio-recruited donors support services Crista offers in the United States, such as retirement homes and summer camps.
“We have not been successful in moving these donors to supporting other programs,” he says. “The hope would be leading them to other things.”
