By Ian Worby
CEO
UCB Asia Pacific
Part of my role in helping Vision Christian Media when they have their two radio appeals each year called Visionathon is that I am The Story Teller.
I tell faith-building and inspiring stories from the past of how God and others helped us get to where we are today. And ‘yes‘ usually these stories involve a generous donation of money.
I tell Interesting stories of how we had a need for a licence, or the funds to pay our bills, or our need to get into a better building and how God came through for us in some special way. The stories I share tell how people responded to what they heard on the radio, or read in The Word for Today, or what they heard in the lyrics of song or sermon. I get to tell how their support started something special that others joined, and together we were able to reach our goal (target) for that appeal.
It’s all part of how we build a case for support around how (your Radio station) helps local everyday people in your country overcome the things in our culture that stop them looking to God daily. Things like fear, worry, sickness, relationship breakdown, addictions, distraction by other media and things that rob us of our time with God and his family. The Story Teller is someone who has been with the ministry a long time and can recount when God did something special. This person’s role is to use stories to illustrate how God touches our people through our UCB Media mission, or how partnerships with other ministries help extend God’s Kingdom. Typically, this will be one story which will be developed over a couple of voice breaks and should include audio grabs as much as possible.
Some Other Things to Remember When Doing Your Radio Appeal…
Keep it interesting!
– Have some fun
– Make it memorable (not same old same old ) share stories and testimonies and Scriptures that build support.
Deliver… say what you need to say and then get out of the way. Or to put it another way… Be Bright, Be Brief. Be Gone!
– The listeners take ‘junctions’ as a ‘cue to call’. (they call when the music is playing not when you are talking)
– Two short, linked talk breaks with a song between is far better than a long rambling talk break.
– 2-3 minutes talk time per break, MAX.
Don’t forget Pray together as a team as well as on air.
– You should have a prayer team specifically supporting your Life-a-thon (radio appeal) every day.
When you can, please join them. Without prayer surrounding the event, we are in trouble and will struggle.
Be inclusive
– This is a team effort, the phone room is an integral part of the on-air event, as is the catering team, the tech team and the listeners. Everyone should feel welcome and included, all part of one big family.
No surprises!
– Don’t spring anything unexpected. A good stunt or challenge can be great fun and generate support but they only work if everyone knows what’s going on.
– Coaches and hosts (whoever is in charge): Liaise with the phone room! And make sure the on-air team know what is expected of them!
Talk about whole-of-ministry
– This is not just a radio event. Talk about how your media ministry reaches people in many different ways (and how it all works together). eg The Word for Today, the radio stream on the website and the free mobile app, pray line, prison and school ministry etc.
There is a lot of great resources on our website that you can use to help plan and run your own successful Radio appeal.
If you need any help just ask either Grant, myself or any of our UCB Asia Pacific team.
We are here to help you succeed.
Ian Worby