The night of April 7 at approximately 10:55 p.m. may sound like a line out of the old "Dragnet" television series.
But for WEMU-FM (89.1), Eastern Michigan University's public radio station, that moment is a time capsule when the station made its spring, on-air pledge drive goal of $115,000. The amount was raised in record time, a full day ahead of projections and more than two days ahead of when recent pledge drives have finished.
"I really think that Mr. B's piano-thon had a huge impact on the success of this drive," said Mary Motherwell, WEMU's marketing and development director. "His coming in and playing for twelve straight hours on the air, on day one, just set the pace for the rest of the week. The energy level was so high all day and that made the phones ring off the hook from start to finish. Mr. B deserves a huge amount of credit for the success of this pledge drive because, if there is a strong start, it just builds from there."
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JAM SESSION: (from left) Mark Lincoln Braun, better
known as Mr. B, jams on the piano while Michael G.
Nastos, the host of 89.1 Jazz, plays the drums during
the first day of the WEMU-FM (89.1) on-air spring
pledge drive. Mr. B's piano-thon helped the radio
station get off to a quick start with its drive, which
concluded a full day ahead of projections.
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Mr. B, or Mark Lincoln Braun, is a blues and boogie-woogie pianist who has performed coast to coast and throughout Europe, Canada, Mexico and South America. Locally, he has performed at the Blind Pig Cafe and Kerrytown Concert House, among others, and appeared on numerous National Public Radio (NPR) broadcasts.
Motherwell also credits the "Lynn Rivers Show" for tripling its goal on the first Friday and the gold circle tickets to the "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me" road show and reception that served as pledge enticements. The astounding success of the first Folks Like Us fundraiser, which exceeded its fundraising goal by $5,000, was another critical factor in finishing the drive in record time, she said.
Linda Bankauskas, of Ann Arbor, and a first-time donor, was the winner of the trip for two to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, scheduled April 22-24. The package includes airfare, hotel accommodations and festival tickets.
"By the end of Sunday night, April 3, we were already halfway to the overall goal," said Motherwell of the campaign that began at 6 a.m. April 1. "That's such a boost on Monday; to come in and know that you're already halfway there. We had just an astounding team effort all the way around and it paid off."
WEMU also has raised nearly half of its mail pledge goal of $70,000 and plans two follow-up mailings this month and during May. The overall goal for the spring campaign is $185,000.
WEMU is a listener-supported, NPR affiliate with a format of jazz, blues, local news and information in addition to NPR news, information and cultural programming. The station reaches a potential audience of just under 400,000 in an eight-county area that includes all or part of Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland, Livingston, Jackson, Lenawee, Monroe, and Lucas (Ohio) and Webcasts live 24 hours a day at wemu.org.
