About two weeks ago I received an email from Minnesota Public Radio that their annual winter fund raising drive was coming up, and a link to fill out a volunteer form to help answer phones during the pledge drive.

I had already pledged money to MPR to support 89.3, The Current, before the station even launched, in support of what they were doing. (See my other posts on The Current.)

So I decided what the heck, and filled out a volunteer form for the second day of the pledge drive, which was last Friday. Chose an early shift (5:45 a.m. to 9 am – ick) so I could get there, and still get some time in the office. I woke up about 45 minutes earlier than normal, and hopped in the car to St. Paul, an area of town I rarely go to. Security guard lets me in, I go up to the 4th floor, and I’ve missed about 2 minutes of the 10 minute orientation on the script, filling out the pledge form, etc.

It’s 6 a.m., and the phones are slow. In the room they had set up with the phone bank, they had about 30-40 phones in mini-cubicles for those filling out the pledge forms by hand, and about a dozen PCs for those that wanted to enter the pledge information on-line instead of filling out a sheet of paper (guess which one I picked). On two of the 4 walls, they had projectors set up. One showed the different promotional giveaways for different pledge amounts, by station. The other showed phone bank statistics, including number of volunteers on the phone, number of volunteers available to take a call, pledges taken, amount pledged and the goal.

Phone calls were slow coming in, but picked up around 7:45. Turns out that the heaviest times for call-ins are during the top of the hour (when the DJ’s are making the strongest pitch) and during corporate matching times, which 7:30 to 8 was one of. I’m guessing I answered maybe 20 calls, but I was floored at the number of calls for 89.3. Now most of them were calling to support The Morning Show with Dale Connelly and Jim Ed Poole, and guessing from the voices, ages ranged all over.

I love 89.3, but I’m not into the Morning Show, yet. It’s almost too eclectic for me, and I’m not necessarily into all of the genres played, but I respect them for bringing all kinds of music to the radio. I’m ecstatic about the amount of support they received during the pledge drive though.

Overall, it was easy work, met some interesting people, and gave back to something I believe in. Giving money is one thing, but I’m glad I made the time investment. My wife has pledged to the news station on and off over the years, and when I mentioned I was going to volunteer, she mentioned it was something she always wished she had done. I was glad to do my part, as little as it was.