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Red Cross aims to raise $250K this weekend through interactive program
YOUNGSTOWN
The American Red Cross Lake to River Chapter is hoping to raise $250,000 and a lot of awareness this weekend through a pilot program, dubbed “Be a Hero Campaign,” developed by DittoTalk, a Youngstown Business Incubator portfolio company.
The DittoTalk software program is a scripted, interactive, multimedia presentation tool that Red Cross volunteers are using through midnight Sunday asking family, friends and acquaintances and anyone who wants to listen to make a $10 donation, or any amount they wish, to the local Red Cross chapter. They also will be asked if they want to become a Red Cross volunteer and make presentations themselves.
Red Cross volunteers also are getting help making presentations from several Youngstown State University students who are making calls from the Youngstown Business Incubator.
People who want to help make presentations or receive them and potentially donate or volunteer, can call the Red Cross at 330-392-2551, ext. 114, or DittoTalk at 330-318-2271 for information.
“We’re hoping the number of presenters and the numbers of donors expand exponentially as the three-day pilot project goes forward,” said Karen E. Conklin, Red Cross Lake to River Chapter executive director.
To reach its $250,000 goal, 25,000 people or organizations would have to give an average of $10 each.
People called will be connected with a secure site on their computer that no one else can see. If they choose to donate, they will be asked for the credit-card information, telephone number and name and address for verification.
“It’s just like buying something online,” Conklin said.
All donations will stay in The Lake to River Chapter, which includes Columbiana, Mahoning, Trumbull, Ashtabula and Jefferson counties, Conklin said.
The “Be a Hero Campaign” presentation includes information about the Red Cross, including that it is not funded by the U.S. government and that about 91 percent of the money it receives goes for services.
In the past nine months, the Red Cross has provided free assistance valued at $500,000 to more than 2,000 people in Northeast Ohio. The Red Cross responds within two hours to disasters, the majority of which is helping the victims of local house fires, Conklin said.
DittoTalk has marketed its software successfully to for-profit companies, including Verizon and Western Union, but now wants to break into the nonprofit area for which the software originally was intended, said James McKinney, company sales and marketing director.
McKinney spent several hours Friday at the Red Cross office at 3530 Belmont Ave., training Red Cross volunteers to use the software. The “Be a Hero Campaign” kicked off at noon Friday.
One of the great things about the program is that the observer, or the person called, steers what they want to see; and the script for the presenter immediately adjusts for that subject, McKinney said.
“It’s five minutes in and out,” he said.
The “Be a Hero Campaign” software, which McKinney said cost $10,000 to $20,000 to develop, does not cost the Red Cross anything for the weekend.
He believes the pilot program “will transform the way nonprofits raise money. It is what webinars want to be when they grow up. ”
“The observer [the person called] makes choices on their screen that change the presentation as well as the presenter’s script. The exciting thing about using it in this forum is that we can actually cause the fundraising to go viral, with observers instantly becoming presenters,” said Mike Helm, DittoTalk creator.
“That’s never been done before, and we’re thankful we can do it with such a great organization as the Red Cross,” he said.
“And we get to test it for free to raise money and awareness and, hopefully, garner some volunteers. This could be an absolute game-changer for getting our message out,” Conklin said.