WABE 90.1 FM is Atlanta’s local National Public Radio station. Listeners turn to member supported WABE 90.1 FM for their news, music, arts and entertainment. As a member-supported public radio station, they rely on donations to fund programming costs. When we heard about the opportunity to serve as volunteers for the fund drive, we jumped at the opportunity. We ventured into Atlanta bright and early on October 16th to serve as volunteers in the phone center. We answered phone calls from listeners calling to make donations. We were among the first volunteers to use their new script to collect donations from listeners. The new script prompted us to ask the listener if they’d like for all of their donation to go to WABE or if they would like a thank you gift. Of course, the less listeners that choose a gift, the more profit is made. This simple addition to the script made an impact; the percentage dropped from 30% of people taking gifts down to 17%. Later, after seeing an article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, we learned that at the end of the two week campaign drive, they broke a record by pulling in nearly $1.5 million.
