Day 8: The Neon Man (Slash Coleman & PBS): Fundraising Tips

I had a long conversation with Jane Crouse today. She's a storyteller, a librarian, and a full-time student of fundraising (from what I can gather, she's enrolled in fundraising classes at Life University which I think is where most of us take classes to learn about things we feel we missed in regular school) and she passed a long a wealth of information to me.

First, in selling the 3 underwriting spots, I decided to target drug companies that deal with depression drugs, and also funeral and bereavement associations. As a librarian I figured she would have access to lists and databases that I wouldn't. Sure enough, she confirmed that hunch. She said she would start with the PDR (The Physicians Desk Reference) and once she located the correct drugs, she'd go on to find the companies. I could then pass this along to Elli who's going to be making the sales calls.

Although I put an ad out on Craigslist the other day for temporary Salespeople, I'm still on the fence about hiring more people. Part of me feels like I need a team, but Elli wanted to see how hard it would be first before I called in others. The Feb 19 deadline for the sales makes me kind of nervous, so I'm just going to trust my intuition on it.

She had a lot to say in terms of my ongoing dilemma of what to put in my "Gross Impression Gift Mailings." Jane said the most important thing she learned in fund raising is how important a personal connection is. She suggested I have my friend's son draw a picture for the package, that I include his photo and that I have my friend's girlfriend write a letter for it. But to tell you the truth it makes me really nervous. I've already stop sending checks to her from every show because I feel they remind her again and again of Mark's death. Mark's mom even suggested I stop sending the money and so now, I'm saving it all and maybe when he's older I can give him the money.

Jane also said I should send cookies. But I know how weird people are about food these days. She googled delivery cookies for me and guess what? Mrs. Fields will make cookies with a company logo with them. The price wasn't bad - $200 for 100 - which would allow me to send 2 to each of the top 50 PBS stations in the country.

For more info about "The Neon Man and Me" and other storytelling projects by me - Slash Coleman - please visit www.slashcoleman.com

Day 4: The Neon Man and Me (Slash & PBS)

Today I was consumed with gathering more PBS addresses. The list that Mr. Felton gave me was kind of dated, but I managed to go thru about half of the list of 300 stations. That means from 9:00 - 3:00 I was visiting every PBS station website, and finding the fax #, the phone # and the Production Managers name and e-mail address. By the end of the day, when I went to yoga class I was seeing double. 

My good friend Scary is also helping me with the list and a former storytelling bootcamp student of mine, Maddie Jay, is helping too.


It's funny, when I put a request out on Facebook a few weeks ago asking for help for the project all kinds of people came forward and said yes, but when I followed up with them I only heard crickets chirping. I think it's become too easy on Facebook and with other social media to say Yes to something and not feel like following through is important. To me though, it's a reflection of the person and their intergrity.



Now, the other things I have to start thinking about are:1) What I'll actually plan to send each station 2) How I'll pay for each little gift I create 3) How I can pay the postage on whatever I send 3) How I can get people all over the country to call each station and tell them that they want to see my show on their television.

Mr. Felton said I have three 15 second commercials that I can sell on my show. On PBS, these are called underwriting spots. For instance, after a PBS special there's usually a company graphic and a voice over that says, "The following program was underwritten by Dow Chemical Company." My goal is to sell each spot for $15,000 each and let whoever makes the sale keep 15% of the price. Not a bad days work for someone with some savvy. My friend Dr. Larry Volz (the infamous comedy hypnotist), reccomended I seek out drug companies that offer products around depression. 


The things I've got planned so far:
1) Tomorrow I have a meeting with Ellli Morris ( a photographer and author) who is interested in selling the ads.
2) Tomorrow night I have a phone meeting with Jane Crouse, a storyteller and librarian, who said she would help me brainstorm ways that she might help me do research for the project. (I think she can help me research possible funding sources).
3) Wenesday I'm having lunch with Tiffany Glass Ferreira, (artist and founder of The Real Small Art League) who is pretty dialed into the social networking scene who I'm hoping will give me some ideas .