If you listen to NPR then you're probably enduring your local station's pledge drive. Hey, it's public radio, they gotta pass the hat a couple of times a year. I made my donation yesterday. I don't just feel good about that--I feel smug about it.
But these pledge contests, come on. I'm on the way to work, and they say, "Dr. and Mrs. Joe Bagadonutz of Mt. Lebanon called and said they'll donate $1000 if we can get 20 donors from the University of Pittsburgh in the next hour!" Yesterday it was, "Mr. and Mrs. John Fancypants from Sewickley said they'll donate $50 for each donor we get who went to a different college!"
Now, this is ludicrous. I mean, are they demanding PROOF that, as you say, you went to this particular college? I called in for my contribution and I wanted to say, "Ah, oui, j'ai etudes a la Sorbonne". (Pardon my French). Will they demand a transcript? Ask me to sing the alma mater?
And what kind of malevolent bastard would call a public radio station and make an offer like that? I guess this is a marketing ploy, they want to put the hammer down on you, get you thinking, "Sweet Jesus, I just gotta get this pledge in so they get that extra $20 for this contest!!"
I don't think people out there really feel extra pressure to contribute because there's a contest for the next twenty minutes. There's contests pretty much all day, so if you miss one, just wait for another one later. That's why I don't think they're real. It's like all those guys going to Northeastern colleges who have sex with their 38-22-36 professors, as so often documented in Penthouse Letters. I don't buy it.
But...if people are actually calling in and offering extra cash if the station can reach some ridiculous pledge goal, shame on them. Don't humiliate these people, they work for a non-profit organization! Give 'em the fucking money!
But these pledge contests, come on. I'm on the way to work, and they say, "Dr. and Mrs. Joe Bagadonutz of Mt. Lebanon called and said they'll donate $1000 if we can get 20 donors from the University of Pittsburgh in the next hour!" Yesterday it was, "Mr. and Mrs. John Fancypants from Sewickley said they'll donate $50 for each donor we get who went to a different college!"
Now, this is ludicrous. I mean, are they demanding PROOF that, as you say, you went to this particular college? I called in for my contribution and I wanted to say, "Ah, oui, j'ai etudes a la Sorbonne". (Pardon my French). Will they demand a transcript? Ask me to sing the alma mater?
And what kind of malevolent bastard would call a public radio station and make an offer like that? I guess this is a marketing ploy, they want to put the hammer down on you, get you thinking, "Sweet Jesus, I just gotta get this pledge in so they get that extra $20 for this contest!!"
I don't think people out there really feel extra pressure to contribute because there's a contest for the next twenty minutes. There's contests pretty much all day, so if you miss one, just wait for another one later. That's why I don't think they're real. It's like all those guys going to Northeastern colleges who have sex with their 38-22-36 professors, as so often documented in Penthouse Letters. I don't buy it.
But...if people are actually calling in and offering extra cash if the station can reach some ridiculous pledge goal, shame on them. Don't humiliate these people, they work for a non-profit organization! Give 'em the fucking money!
