Give today, and maybe win the newest iPad tonight
Ooooh! Shiny!
We don’t want to eliminate the Fall Fundraiser, we just want to shrink it down a little bit. So start now and end early. As soon as we make our goal–$325,000–No mas! Done deal! Finito!
If that is before the on-air portion of of our fall campaign begins, great. If we end a day early or two, it’s all good. It’s time to give, right up until it we’re done.
“But what’s in for me?” you might ask in your inside voice. Well, how about the newest iPad tablet computer. Everybody we hear from before the drawing on Friday is in the hat for a piece of gear so new it’s not in the stores yet, so awesome they haven’t decided whether to call it the iPad 6, or the iPad Air 2, or “The best thing since sliced bread.”
So here’s the deal:
Make your gift to NCPR now
Get your name in the hat for the latest iPad (and all the other drawings coming after) and help NCPR to be responsible stewards of your earlobes through reducing our self-promotional footprint.
I’ll donate but I won’t take any products made by Apple.
Are the drawings only available to donors, or can anyone sign up for the drawings? If the latter, NCPR routinely forgets to mention the fact.
Anyone can enter, with or without a donation. Click the link to the form and select the option “enter me in the drawing only.” Many do. We encourage people to donate, of course, but if you listen to the language we consistently use on air, we say you have to “be in touch” or “get in contact” to be entered, and that anyone who gives is automatically entered.
Dale Hobson, NCPR
It just seems that suggesting that being signed up for a drawing that is open to anyone is somehow an incentive to give is intentionally misleading unless the unrestricted nature of the raffle is explicitly stated whenever the incentive language is used.
Let me add that I realize how tough it is to raise money. NCPR does a remarkable job at it year after year. It just seems you may have crossed a line, intentionally or not, in this case.
Hi Jeez–
If we have crossed any line here, we crossed it long ago. We have been using drawings as giving incentives for many years now, and have been using the same language about them on air all that time. In fact, we would be violating FCC guidelines if we held drawings that required a donation for entry. We never say on air that you have to give to enter a drawing. But about 90% of the people who enter the drawings do so in the process of making a contribution, because we surround the promotion of the drawing with our fundraising campaign.
How do other people feel about this? Do you think NCPR is being misleading in the way we handle these drawings? Is there anyone who wanted to enter an NCPR drawing, but didn’t because you thought a gift was required? Should we advertise that you don’t need to give us a contribution every time we mention a drawing? Let us know what you think.
Dale Hobson, NCPR
Many states (NY included, I believe) distinguish between raffles (sweepstakes) and promotional “drawings” which I believe is the case for NCPR fundraisers. Raffles require a buy-in, as well as registration with the NYS Gaming Commission. Promotional drawings require no buy-in, no registration. Drawings do require notification that they are non-exclusive.
By suggesting that a drawing is exclusive to donors (which is a form of incentive for listeners to pledge money to the station) while obscuring the non-exclusive nature of the drawing behind a link to the “pledge now!” page, seems a well-intentioned deception.
I’m sure this is an unintentional mistake. NCPR has high standards in most matters. I would hate to see them compromised in the name of fundraising. If you want to do a raffle, do a raffle. If not, welcome openly and frequently non-donor participation.