The Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) is debuting its inaugural telethon starting on Nov. 30. The organization hopes to raise $80,000 in donations by the end of the year.
The fundraising calls will be made by DMEF trustees, program participants and DMEF staff.
According to DMEF president Terri L. Bartlett, the phone calls are part of a multichannel campaign. They follow 2,500 letters, which were sent out last week.
While the calls will be going on throughout December, the Nov. 30 launch date will feature a concentrated effort made from the organization’s offices. Bartlett expects around 15 individuals to be on site between 2 pm and 6 pm Eastern time on Monday. Participating callers will be donating their cell phone minutes to the DMEF’s effort.
Additionally, board members will be making calls both to lists of roughly 50 potential donors provided by the DMEF, as well as names culled from their own Rolodexes (digital or otherwise). Callers will be using a script designed – and donated – by Tom Lacroix, VP of business development at Market Chord Direct Group. LLC.
The goal, according to Bartlett, is both to raise money and generate a greater level of support for the DMEF’s programs going into 2010. In addition to the DMEF’s current activities, which include providing students and professors with direct marketing education resources, the organization is planning a new interactive marketing immersion experience in August, as well as a research center, among other new programs.
Individuals wishing to pre-empt the DMEF callers’ efforts may obtain donation information here: http://www.directworks.org/Contribute/Default.aspx?id=420.
