Pledge Drive Recovery

The final phone rang at 8:12 a.m. to end the week-long pledge drive of fall 2010. Extended for one more day, in a mere two hours the pledge drive was able to generate ten thousand dollars in pledges. Not long after the station reached its goal the building seemed to return to normal. When I arrived at the station at ten in the morning the pledge center no longer buzzed with excitement. The fridge had been emptied of all the delicious donated treats and the hallways no longer echoed with conversation. It felt like the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas. The staff was grabbing salads for lunch, after several days of eating tasty, but high calorie food. Some retreated to their desks to finish their daily work while others mingled in the lobby talking about their plans for the weekend.

Stephanie, the volunteer coordinator, was finishing the last of the thank-you cards and was noticeably excited that she and others no longer had to arrive at the station at 4 am. I completely understand after spending three hours the day before answering calls; I was worn out. It was great talking to many of the generous donors. Several callers were probably not as excited to talk to me as I was to them, since multiple times they had to repeat their contact information before I finally got it right. Pam and Helen, two other volunteers working with me, seemed to have no problem quickly getting people’s information. These two generous ladies helped the rookie out when I fumbled to get the courage to say, “Spokane Public Radio volunteer, May I take your pledge.” “It’s best if you say volunteer when you first start out because they will cut you some slack” Pam said, as with ease she answered another call. Reflecting back on my first pledge drive, I was amazed at how well the pledge drive went considering the size-able number of dollars that the station needed to raise. Spokane and the surrounding communities have great listeners and the people who volunteer and work at the station are great as well. This partnership between the listening community and the committed volunteers and station staff makes me proud to be an intern at the station.
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