It was the winter campaign of 2010. Charley Samson, David Rutherford and I were in the CPR Classical studio asking for contributions of all shapes and sizes, when word came in that we’d received a pledge from a 6-year-old named Thea.
She’d heard our request for donations “in any amount,” asked her mother if she could contribute, and probably emptied her piggybank donating exactly $24.
Charley and David thanked Thea profusely on air, and we all moved on with the work of the drive: convincing the next listener to contribute a little to the effort.
And then five or 10 minutes later, another listener made a pledge of $1,176, along with this request:
Please take this contribution and add it to the 6-year-old’s pledge of $24, making her total equal $1,200 and turning her into one of CPR’s Network Partners.
I can tell you three grown men were crying in Studio 4A. This is why I love pledge drives.
