Sometimes the best fundraising intentions can become publicity nightmares, as the Orlando, Fla., chapter of the American Cancer Society (ACS) can certainly attest.
Within hours of learning that the market's No. 1 young male-oriented rock station, Real Radio, WTKS-FM, had decided to donate $3,500 it raised from a topless carwash promotion to ACS, the not-for-profit, family image-oriented agency soon found themselves in a moral hotseat.
Thanks, But No Thanks
To increase breast cancer awareness among its listeners, WTKS-FM hosted a three-hour carwash promotion at a local club that featured the sudsy talents of topless strippers from the area. Although the 10 days of promos leading to the April 24 fund-raiser mentioned ACS as a donation recipient, the money was originally meant for the M.D. Andersen Cancer Center in Orlando. Upon being contacted a day or two before the event, the center rejected the goodwill donation, citing ethical concerns and possible negative patient backlash.
As a last ditch effort, the radio station turned to ACS a few days after the fund-raiser, but were rebuffed again for similar reasons. "We were faced with a lose-lose situation," said Jim Murphy, the chapter's director of marketing and communications, who had to weigh the lesser of two evils this crisis presented: alienating the radio station's largely young male listenership or ACS' target of hospitals, key volunteers and local businesses. Murphy chose to alienate the former.
The next evening, during a popular call-in segment, the radio station reamed ACS for its "thanks but no thanks" stance, charging that the strippers' money wasn't good enough for the organization. Murphy, who elected not to have an ACS spokesperson on the show, maintained a passive, reactive approach to the fundraising snafu. "We couldn't gain anything by getting into a conflict with a popular radio station, we decided to let it run its course," said Murphy.
PR Disaster Turns Into Unique Community Outreach Opportunity
Even after blasting ACS, the radio station still had no donation takers. So the radio station contacted ACS again, this time for a referral. And without hesitation, ACS recommended the Women's Center for Radiology, a private center that provides mammography screenings and other female radiology services in Orlando. The radiology center, which doesn't have the same corporate concerns as ACS, was elated to receive the funds.
The center's concern was for a "positive end result from all of the negative publicity" breast cancer awareness suffered, said Vicki Crews, the center's director. To put a positive spin on the controversial fundraiser, the center decided to use the $3,500 for an on-site radio station mobile mammography promotion that provided $65 screenings for uninsured women who couldn't other wise afford them. The event attracted 23 women and generated 14 mammography appointments. But the center made it clear that they would not accept the money or do the promotion unless ACS lent minimal support through an ACS representative and backup medical literature.
"In the end we all worked together to increase breast cancer awareness among groups that we would not have typically reached [young men and uninsured women]," reflected Crews. Murphy agrees, "The radio station brought attention to breast cancer for 10 days, among male listeners who might consider it boring or unimportant. That was very positive."
The PR fall-out from this controversial and morally-charged issue was short-lived but far-reaching. Aside from some local coverage, the Miami Herald and other papers throughout Florida covered it, as well as national coverage from AP Newswire and regional ink from papers in North Carolina, South Carolina and California. There was even international interest from a London radio station.
"This was an interesting case of how you can be sucked into something you're not even involved in to begin with," said Murphy who was amazed at the media's response to a seemingly "small town" scandal.
(ACS, 407/425-5011; Women's Center for Radiology, 407/841-0822)