Last Sunday, July 11, 2010, a Leon Valley business held a special concert (6 bands – Country, Jazz, Rock) where the proceeds would benefit the WAO. The WAO’s new public relations person was on KENS-TV on Thursday of last week saying he was hoping this event would help raise $500k required to save the WAO. He proudly showed off a Spurs basketball that would be auctioned off at the event. He also said he had a gift certificate and items from the WAO gift shop up for auction as well. After he spoke, one of the bands featured at the event played for the in-studio audience. The band, in my opinion, was horrible. It probably scared a lot of people away from the event. I don’t know how long the link will last, but here is the KENS-tv interview with the WAO’s public relations’ person:
I learned the event took in approximately $400-$500 dollars and only about 40 people attended the event. Needless to say, this is a far cry from the half a million dollars the WAO was hoping to make.
Even I knew this event would take in very little money since there were two other major and very popular concert events taking place in San Antonio. Sadly, the amount raised would only cover the cost of produce for primates and bears for two weeks.
It was been almost a week since the event, and thus far, the web site announcing the fundraiser has not been taken down. The site contains old material and according to my web tracker, the WAO is losing visitors. Most time visitors are referred from another site, view the homepage, and then leave the site.
The web pages I created are still the most popular, such as meet some of our animals, tours and directions. Visitors spend a lot of time looking at the animal pictures. Unfortunately, the ‘donate’ webpage (via pay pal or check) is clicked on only once per day, and from what I can tell by the time spent on the page, visitors are not making donations.
The web site could be a major tool in fundraising and unless someone takes over the web site administrator’s duties; less and less folks will feel inclined to donate to the WAO. This breaks my heart because we had so many plans for the website and now it is simply wasting away.
I’ve been studying up on website enhancement techniques and how to fundraise on-line, through mail, and on the phone. I have so many great ideas that I know can work in raise money for the animals. I just wish our team had a chance to go in and make a real difference in the animals’ lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment