You should have seen it! It was THIS big! [arms outstretched]. I swear!
When I’m in fundraising mode (typically July through October), I take the "hey, ya never know" and the "can’t hurt to ask" approach ad nauseam. With both email and social networking, potential targets are more accessible than they’ve ever been.
Sure it comes with a 99.8 percent rejection rate, but I try not to let that deter me. Like I said, ya never know. Maybe someone will be moved by Charlie’s story from this "desperate dad doing everything I can to bring about a cure for this dreadful disease." Yes, I’ve written that in countless emails. Barf!
And this …
"On the outside, Charlie has the appearance of a normal, healthy, mischievous 7-year-old boy, content in smashing cars, squashing bugs and embodying Luke Skywalker. But inside, his body is waging a war 24 hours a day, every single day."
Ugh! Sure it’s all true (though perhaps lathered on a tad thick), but I’ve sent these pleas out SO many times. Frankly, I’m getting tired of my own song and dance.
Most of the time, the emails are flat-out ignored. I get excited just to get a response; even if it’s to say, "sorry, but we currently direct our charitable contributions toward hangnail awareness." At least it’s a response.
So you can imagine my excitement when I saw in my inbox an email from the office of Ralph’s World. If you don’t have children under 7 years old, you may not know who he is, but in the children’s music genre, Ralph is pretty huge. Who can forget great tunes such as Gitarzan, We are Ants, Red Banana or my personal favorite ...
The Coffee Song
M-O-M-M-Y needs C-O-F-F-E-E
D-A-D-D-Y needs C-O-F-F-E-E
I want a latte, a cappuccino
And tonight I think I’ll have a little vino
I scanned the email with wide eyes, searching for words like "sorry" or "unfortunately," but I couldn’t find any. It was wordy and long and mentioned how Ralph gets requests for help nearly every day. Bad sign, I thought as I read further. I locked onto some words that gave me hope.
"Writing you back after I watched the video." (He watched our video!!!)
"I thought your letter deserved more than our standard form letter response." (Yes!!!)
"So yes, maybe we can help." (Yatzee!)
But, as I anticlimactically mentioned earlier, this was the one that got away.
Without an actual plan or the money or resources to fly Ralph and his band out to a concert fundraiser and put them up in a hotel, my request was dead in the water.
When I suggested a percentage of proceeds from an upcoming show going toward JDRF, it wasn’t received very well. Admittedly, giving a flat donation to an organization does little to spread awareness to the disease and from their perspective, to Ralph’s World. As I’ve seen with other potential donors that got away, there is definitely a "what’s in it for us?" mindset.
In a last attempt from this "desperate dad," I pitched an idea of a song about diabetes. The many myths about diabetes are actually very funny, I mentioned. And if put into song, Ralph could potentially dispel many misconceptions out there.
I may as well have asked him if he’d inject himself with diabetes while performing live on stage in front of 1,000 children.
Our correspondence ended there.
