Christmas charity radio delivers for homeless
Howard Lake | 25 January 2010 | News
A radio station specifically set up to raise money at Christmas has raised €70,000 for two Irish homelessness charities, according to a report in the Sunday Business Post. Christmas FM generated twice its original target revenues last December.
The station, staffed entirely by industry volunteers, raised more than €70,000 for the Simon Community in Dublin and Cork.
The funds were raised through a combination of corporate sponsorship, texts and online donations.
In its second year, the station broadcast a continuous mix of Christmas music and chat to audiences in Dublin and Cork.
Presenters, including Simon Young, Amanda Brunker and Keith Shanley, volunteered to fill the presenting roles on the station.
The station worked with Gibney Communications on a marketing and publications programme to maximise fundraising potential.
The programme first helped secure corporate sponsorship deals for the station, which resulted in the EBS Building Society and the Irish Daily Mail becoming primary co-sponsors. Tesco, Lemon’s Sweets, the Costume Shop, RedRibbon.ie and X-music all sponsored individual shows, and D4 Hotels supplyed studio space.
The second phase of the programme involved raising public awareness of the station through an official launch and Christmas song contest to drive the number of listeners and increase the volume of value-added text messages and online donations.
Research carried out independently of Christmas FM found that recognition of the brand increased in 2009 from 33% to 47% among 15 to 44-year olds, while the number of listeners increased from 25% to 38% for the same age group.
www.dubsimon.ie
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.