TELLURIDE – Supporting the arts in Telluride is as easy as texting 90999 and the letters “TRIDE” into your cell phone. By doing so and then selecting PALM, SAF, TCTV or SQUID, the selected nonprofit organization will receive $5, and your cell phone bill will reflect your tax-deductible donation. What could be simpler?
Even better, the organization that raises the most money through texts by April 2 will receive a matching donation from the Telluride Foundation.
Inspired by the overwhelming success of a Red Cross mobile giving program that raised over $32 million for Haiti earthquake relief in just two weeks, the Telluride Foundation decided to try something similar to benefit Telluride-region nonprofits. The first of four Local Nonprofit Text-to-Give Giving contests was launched March 5 to benefit four Telluride arts and culture nonprofits. Squidshow Theatre, Sheridan Arts Foundation, Telluride Community Television and Michael D. Palm Theatre have until April 4 to raise as much money as possible through text donations. When the contest ends, the organization that has raised the most money will receive matching dollars, up to $2,000, from the Telluride Foundation.
In subsequent months through the rest of 2010, other sectors of the local nonprofit community will have their chance to raise money in the same fashion. The Health and Human Services contest will run May 28-July 3; environment, Aug. 4-Sept. 6; and early childhood development and education, Nov. 25-Dec. 31. To participate in the contest, open to any regional nonprofit in the specified category, the Telluride Foundation asks for proposals that outline how the organization will engage potential donors to text, as well as their mission statement.
According to Telluride Foundation Development Director Katie Singer, selecting the nonprofits to participate in the arts/cultural contest was no easy task. “We had a nice list of nonprofits to choose from. They all had creative ideas,” she says.
As of late last week, rankings put SquidShow in a “substantial lead,” followed by TCTV, Sheridan Arts Foundation and the Palm, said Singer last week, adding, “I think there’s a fun rivalry going on between them. It’s a healthy competition.”
SquidShow Theatre’s Sasha Cucciniello would agree. “In the arts, we all work with each other. We’re all connected in some ways.”
Indeed, Sheridan Arts Foundation Young People’s Theater Director Jen Julia sits on SquidShow’s board of advisors, and TCTV’s Jeb Berrier participated in their most recent production, Big Love.
“We all love each other,” even though they’re competing against each other, says Cucciniello, adding, “During the play, Jeb kept [slyly] asking us what we were up to. He knew we had some tricks up our sleeve” for the contest.
Not surprisingly, all participants are getting the word out through mass emails, texts and through Facebook and Twitter. But being arts organizations, you can also expect to see some pretty creative marketing techniques.
If necessary, “we’ll take your phone and text it for you,” jokes Cucciniello, suggesting that for them, face-to-face marketing works best. That said, SquidShow plans several guerilla-style theatre performances. But their biggest effort will be their April 1 “Text-a-thon” at Llama, featuring a one-hour, best-of-SquidShow variety show starting at 9:30 p.m.
“We’re suggesting people spend April Fool’s Day with the biggest fools in town,” quips Cucciniello, going on, “The event is actually free, but we’re asking people to text at the door” to be entered into a drawing for great door prizes.
Over at the Sheridan Opera House, PR/Marketing Director Amy Jorgensen says of the contest, “This is completely new to us, very experimental. We’ve been learning as we go and we’re trying a variety of things. It’s a fun experience.”
With Melvin Seals slated to take the stage that night, they planned to try out their first of several fun pre-concert skits to market the text contest. “It’s a person dressed up as a cell phone and a person dressed up as the Opera House – literally, they’re made out of cardboard – and they’re talking to each other. It’s really funny,” she says, adding SAF hopes to commence a more intense effort soon, as soon as they get out from under their recent launching of a new website.
“We’re all having fun with this,” says Jorgenson. “It’s interesting. We actually get grants from the Telluride Foundation and CAASE that allow us to subsidize our rent to nonprofits,” she says, noting that competitor TCTV recently rented the Opera House for their Launch Party.
For their part, the Palm Theatre is planning a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Live in Barcelona concert this Friday, March 19 at 7 p.m. “It’s a performance he did in Spain,” says Palm Executive Director Heather Rommel. “He donated it to help small theatres like ours raise money.” Filmed in high definition and 5.1 sound for digital projection, it’s the next best thing to seeing The Boss in person. Admission is free, but there will be a suggested donation of a $5 text at the door.
The Palm has also been announcing the Text-to-Give program before each of their events. And “We’re going to have a drawing for a Palm Pass,” adds Rommel, which they’re referring to as Text to Give = Text to Win. The pass will provide the winner with free tickets to all of the Palm’s live shows during the 2010/2011 season. “We only have access to the person’s cell number, so we’ll have to just text the person who wins,” she says.
All four organizations can check their progress through a website that shows their current fundraising total. Those who donate remain unnamed, but their phone numbers are listed. People can text their organization of choice up to five times, so the maximum donation per nonprofit is $25.
“It’s a long contest and everyone can only do it five times, so the name of the game is reaching more people, it’s not getting people to donate a bunch of money,” says Jeb Berrier, host and producer of TCTV’s “Live in Telluride” show.
Along with emails and Facebook marketing, TCTV has been advertising the Text-to-Give contest as part of its daily programming, but Berrier agrees with Cucciniello that the best way to market is face to face. He notes, however, that when you don’t have a brick-and-mortar venue for hosting special events like the Opera House and the Palm, it can be challenging to find new faces.
“We don’t have the wherewithal to stage an event unless it’s me wearing a gorilla suit,” says Berrier. “It’s really hard to know how to raise money this way.
Actually, “What’s really the best way is to go to a bar, ask someone if you can borrow their phone” and then text their phone for them, jokes Berrier. “Then you give it back and say, ‘Thanks. I had to call my brother – my phone is dead.’”
Gorilla suit or not, Berrier confides he is planning a Text-to-Give Jello Wrestling event on Sunday, March 29 at the Fly Me to the Moon Saloon. “We’re pulling out all the stops,” he says. “It’s going to be fantastic!”
There’ll be a $5 text-to-TCTV cover at the door, which opens at 9 p.m. Wrestling will begin at 10, along with other events, complete with prizes. (Wrestlers are needed, so call Berrier at 729-1391.)
No doubt the excitement will continue right up until the very last minute, with the Telluride Foundation’s plan to announce the contest winner live at the Friday, April 2 KOTO Street Dance on Telluride’s main street. “We’ll be able to get the results in real time,” Singer explains, enabling members of the crowd to text their donations on the spot.
According to Singer, by timing their Text-to-Give contest winner announcements with other special events, such as the Street Dance and this summer’s Red, White and Blues concert, the Telluride Foundation hopes attract donors who might otherwise be unaware of those organizations and what they do.
“We tried to organize the announcements around existing events” for increased publicity and to attract a number of last-minute donations, she explains.
Proposal deadlines for subsequent Local Nonprofit Text-to-Give contests are as follows: health and human services, May 21; environment, July 23; early childhood development and education, Nov. 15.
It remains to be seen whether or not the fundraiser achieves the Telluride Foundation’s goal of increasing local charitable giving while increasing awareness of the tremendous contribution of local nonprofits. But one thing is certain: All future contestant’s eyes will be on Squidshow, Sheridan Arts Foundation, Palm Theatre and TCTV to see how they pull in their text donations.
For more information about the Text-to-Give Contest, visit telluridefoundation.org.
Post a Comment