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| Path: Main Street : Resources & Library : Research Articles : Feature Article |
Telethons now offer public education and recognition opportunities plus fun and fundraisingJuly 3, 1996; Canadian FundRaiser
Have telethons gone the way of Love Boat and the Dating Game - banished to the late night hours of infomercials and reruns? If the results of recent efforts by groups such as the Easter Seal Society and the Children's Miracle Network (CMN) are any indication, then the answer is "No!" Both groups raised record amounts this year, with Easter Seals taking in more than $5.3 million in March, and the CMN raising $141 million internationally at the beginning of June.
Telethons have changed their focus over the years. While there are still haggard-looking celebrity hosts who have been up all night, and a bank of telephones with eager volunteers in the background, the focus of most has changed from live entertainment and constant pledge pleas, to a vehicle for recognizing donors and providing information about the organization's projects.
The largest telethon is produced by the Children's Miracle Network, and takes place each June on the weekend following the American Memorial Day weekend. CMN is a network of more than 160 children's hospitals throughout North America (13 in Canada) that combine local and national efforts to create the 21-hour production. Broadcast on nearly 200 stations across the continent, the production reaches more than 100 million households. The main production centre is located at Disney World in Florida, but all hospitals have local carriers and production segments.
Shows create a vehicle for celebration and recognition
Debbie Watt, telethon coordinator for the Children's Health Foundation of Northern Alberta, explains the benefits of a network of hospitals: "It is a unique situation that allows us to work with national and international sponsors, and is a very inexpensive vehicle to promote the things we're doing to help kids." As Bonnie Good, Director of Community Relations at the Hospital for Sick Children, explains, the telethon gives the hospital control over the face that it presents to the public. "We're always in the news, but the telethon is one of the few outlets that enables us to tell a story from our perspective and with the depth to make it meaningful."Like the majority of other telethon coordinators, both Watt and Good view the event as a better vehicle for promoting hospital activities and recognizing sponsors than strictly as a fundraiser. "The money phoned in on the weekend is a nice by-product," Watt explains, "but the telethon really culminates the year's activities and gives us a great way to generate awareness of general hospital activities."
In fact, phone-in pledges account for only a small percentage of funds raised during the CMN telethon. Of the $5.3 million raised this year by the British Columbia Children's Hospital, only five per cent came in through phone pledges. Most other CMN hospitals had a phone-in pledge rate below 20 percent. The remaining funds are generated through community and corporate events, direct mail, merchandise sales, and other pre-telethon programs. Janeway Children's Hospital Foundation in Halifax is one notable exception, raising about $450,000 of its $1.3 million total through phone pledges during the broadcast.
Survey results confirm need for shifting focus
This shift from on-air fundraising to on-air recognition and community relations was reflected in the Children's Hospital Telethon Survey, conducted by Insight Canada after the 1994 CMN telethon. Commissioned by the British Columbia Children's Hospital, the Hospital for Sick Children, and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, the survey found that viewers preferred fundraising mechanisms other than phone-in pledges, and tuned in to the telethon to learn about the children their donations were helping.With respect to celebrity appearances and live entertainment, the research showed that viewers preferred to hear stories about children than see celebrities. As Bonnie Good explains, "People want to know that their donation is making a difference… they want `bench to bedside' stories about how their money, and the resulting research, affects kids daily." This focus is a major shift from the old variety show style of earlier telethons.
This shift from fundraising event to promotion and recognition vehicle has been gradual, but telethon coordinators are quick to point out that the shows are still excellent fundraising vehicles. The survey also found that the awareness-raising function of telethons has a very positive impact on future donation intentions. Sixty-one per cent of viewers indicated that they were more likely to donate to the hospital after having watched the telethon. The survey also found that nine in ten existing donors planned to donate to the foundation again.
New angles still necessary for growth
Despite the ongoing success of telethons, there is still a need to keep programming fresh for viewers and volunteers. This year, the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation created 23 new local stories about children helped with research funds. The telethon coordinators also took a camera to various remote locations to chronicle other fundraising activities done in conjunction with the broadcast. Similarly, the BCCH took its cameras to Victoria this year to promote the regional coverage of hospital activities. Other hospitals have moved the telethon broadcast centre from local television stations to the hospital itself to facilitate live segments with children.Countering ongoing concerns that too much emphasis on the children exploits them, all telethon organizers are quick to explain that their productions relate success stories and do not show needy children asking for donations from viewers. In fact, the CMN was founded on the pledge that it would not show kids looking distraught, but would only celebrate their recoveries at CMN-affiliated hospitals.
Having raised more than one billion dollars for its affiliated hospitals over the past 14 years and growing from less than $5 million in its first year to nearly $150 million this year, the CMN telecast is continuing to prove that telethons are both a vital communications tool and an effective fundraising and relationship-building opportunity.
For more information about the Children's Miracle Network, contact Lori Young (613) 542-7240, Fax: (613) 542-3509.
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