Post-Fundraiser Bliss Syndrome

March 30, 2007

It seems unnaturally quiet at the WDAV headquarters on Main Street today. After eight days of our spring membership campaign, with its hustle and bustle, the stillness today is a little unnerving – and a little welcome, too, I have to admit. Gone are the volunteers huddling over the telephones, or in the kitchen over generously donated snacks, meals and drinks. Gone, too, is the hubbub of the “back shop,” the staffers who are primarily responsible for processing the paperwork associated with the pledges that increase exponentially as the campaign progresses. Over as well are the hurried consultations as announcers and station management confer on how things are going, what needs to happen to stay on track, and most of all, how to say anew what apparently has to be said repeatedly over the course of the on air fundraiser. Call me a Pollyanna, but I’m always humbled and grateful after these member drives, as well as bone tired. I refuse to be dejected by the fact that the majority of WDAV listeners don’t contribute to these campaigns. To me it’s inspiring that there are any who do make contributions, and that the money raised is enough to keep this station going strong. And it’s hard to feel dejected when the payoff for me, personally, is that I get to come back to work, and bask in the glory of uninterrupted classical music. It sounds especially sweet to my ears when I can enjoy it all by myself in the studio again after a week of company, however welcome that company might have been. As a colleague once told me, there’s a reason why people like me enter a profession where we can sit alone in a studio with headphones on talking to an audience that can’t talk back. The importance of this kind of work increases when I’m reminded that it is valued by so many people who invest in it: with their time as listeners, with their talent as volunteers, or with their fortune as contributors. So all I can feel and say at a time like this is “Thanks.” That, and “If you didn’t get a chance to contribute, it’s not too late to use the secure online contribution form, or to call 704-894-8990 during business hours …”