This just in: Radio stars are stepping out from behind the mic to say thank you to donors on camera. Showing your face can seem scary, but worry not- video doesn’t have to kill the radio star! We’ve got 3 great examples of radio station showmanship to help show you the way to a better thank you message.
Public Radio Station Illinois State
A thank you video does not need to feature just one person. In fact, more is merrier in this thank you compilation.
Notice these grateful astronauts of the airwaves didn’t double down on fancy green screens or flashy ring lights to make their heartwarming thank you videos.
They recorded themselves at their desks, on their couches, or anywhere they felt most comfortable. With gratitude, natural -looking and honest is often the best policy.
To spice up the self-recordings of your stars and starlets, consider rigorously obeying the following instructions:
- Can you be seen? Light your face up! Stand near a window, or set a soft glow with whatever you’ve got on hand.
- Can you be understood? Sound is so important! If your environment too loud or too echoey for you, it’s definitely too loud and/or echoey for your donors.
For the full list of recording tips, check out 7 Tips for Filming Yourself on a Smartphone.
UT & 91.9 FM WUOT
You gotta give the people what they want. And what a donor to a radio station wants to see is the face behind the voice and the studio. 91.9fm WUOT supplied them with both!
Before this ThankView campaign, donors typically received a “Thank you for donating to University of Tennessee” letter or email, leaving many supporters confused. They didn’t think they had given to the University of Tennessee, but 91.9fm WUOT (which runs out of UT Knoxville). A staggering 40% of WUOT’s funding comes from donors, and the confusion was becoming an obstacle.
“The challenge was connecting the dots for the donors and thanking them in a meaningful way,” said Brittany Fowler, the Senior Director of Stewardship and Donor Relations.
The takeaway here is clear: make sure your ThankView branding matches your donor’s intended institution!
WUOT did a great job of filling up their ThankView with fun videos of all the familiar faces at their radio station.
This may leave you wondering, is there a way I can easily collect videos from my people? You betcha! *link to the amplifying your outreach with video*
Lurie Children’s Hospital + iHeart Radio
For those of you thinking, I don’t work at a radio station, but I do partner with them for radio-thons. This one’s for you.
Lurie Children’s Hospital flipped the script. In their mashup with iHeart Radio, the thank you was so much more powerful coming from the team members most grateful for their radio partnership. Lurie Children’s made sure that the thank you matched the gift!
Their thank yous to iHeart Radio employees reached 100% open rate. One hundred. Percent. You guys. That’s good gratitude.
So don’t hide your radio stars! Get ‘em out there saying thank you to your amazing donors!