The holidays are here. This is the season when radio stations ramp up events and marketing related to charities, and this year is no exception.
One of the more clever charity umbrella names I’ve heard is from Saga’s WHQG, Milwaukee. This won’t work for everyone, but given that the station’s branding is The Hog, “Lend A Helping Ham” stands out and seamlessly reinforces the brand.
Remember the “Thanksgiving on The Mayflower” promotion, where stations filled a Mayflower van with food? Saga Communications KISM, Bellingham, Washington, put its spin on that with “Pack A Patrol Car.” Teaming up with the local police department, it filled patrol cars with toys, gift cards, and cash donations.
This should be easy to execute, and the sales team will love the idea because they can sell stops at clients’ businesses that can serve as collection sites.
Stations have long used the idea of breaking their format or playlists to raise money by holding a request-a-thon, allowing people to pledge money to have their chosen song on the radio.
A fresh twist is “Toys For Tunes.” Pledge a toy to get a song played. The more obscure or out-of-format the song, the higher the dollar value of the toy.
Kids and pets are the quickest way to bond with listeners. “The 12 Strays Of Christmas” allows your station to have a feel-good promotion with a local animal shelter to help get pets adopted. Approach a pet store or veterinarian to donate a service with each adoption. Adoptable pets create great visuals for social media.
It’s too late for Thanksgiving, but put this on your calendar. Star 102.5 in Des Moines has hosted “Operation Combat Hunger, Tanks for Giving” for many years. When I was competing against them in the market, I was always jealous of the promotional visuals.
They partnered with the local National Guard to acquire tanks and military equipment to create its giving encampment. Listeners could drive through and make their donations. All the time spent building the display made it look huge. It was guaranteed to generate TV coverage and raise money for a good cause.
If you have something unique that you would like to share or have highlighted, I would love to hear from you—email jeff@barrettmedia.com
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Jeff Lynn serves as Editor of Barrett Media’s Music Radio coverage. Prior to joining Barrett Media, Jeff spent time programming in Milwaukee, Omaha, Cleveland, Des Moines, and Madison for multiple radio groups, including iHeartMedia, Townsquare Media, NRG Media, and Entercom (now Audacy). He also worked as a Country Format Editor for All Access until the outlet shut down in August 2023.
To get in touch with Jeff by email, reach him at Jeff@BarrettMedia.com.
