Mike is an extremely creative thinker who thought out of the box and pushed the station to fundraise in new ways. Mike was an early adopter to "green" ideas and during and after his tenure at KPBS Mike worked with and encouraged the station to pursue environmentally friendly fundraising activities. These were a great fit with our audience who are very supportive of environmental causes. Mike's enthusiasm and energy was infectious and he sparked creativity throughout the organization. At two stations over the last several years I sought Mike's help in guiding new and veteran pitchers and Membership staff towards a more nuanced understanding of listener-centered fund raising. Mike continues to help former colleagues achieve steady improvement in Pledge results. And, now, he is part of the mix here at KCLU! KAZU has worked with Mike Wallace and Public Media Partnerships for more than four years on all of our major membership drives and has seen a major increase in revenue during that period. Mike provides a complete service from messaging and strategy to execution. Our recently completed spring membership drive was a record for the station despite a major economic downturn. I can't imagine planning and executing a major pledge drive without Mike's help. Mike knows how to communicate the importance of membership while making our listeners and viewers feel good about themselves, as well as KPBS. Mike Wallace did a bang-up job of staff training and executive producing the Fall 2002 Membership Drive for Nevada Public Radio. Mike came in pre-drive for training of the on-air talent, critiqued demo pledges and helping in the pre-production of taped pledge announcements. He then was with us on-site throughout the ten day drive, coming in early and staying late, to make sure we were maximizing our opportunities. The result…the most productive membership drive we had ever held. An investment in Mike was money well spent. With only about two weeks of lead time, Mike Wallace came on board to lead WLRN through the most successful radio pledge drive in its history. As the old saying goes, we truly couldn't have done it without him. Since Houston Public Radio started working with Mike Wallace, we’ve produced two record-breaking on-air campaigns within the space of a year. We’ve also seen a big increase in new memberships. Mike’s work with us – membership, development and on-air talent – just prior to the campaign, was instrumental in keeping us focused and on message. With Mike’s ideas, organization and hands-on energy, we surpassed our previous record by 30% and our number of pledges by 15%. That translates into a much higher average pledge and a staff that was into the drive 110%. Highly recommended. WFYI was pleased to achieve both a record breaking day and a record breaking drive with the help of Mike Wallace. From pre-production planning to post drive analysis, Mike’s leadership and help was invaluable. Mike was hired to create and deliver a training that would improve the fundraising skills of the 200+ volunteer radio programmers at a small station in Northern California. These volunteers were amateurs and they were unhappy to be asked to come to a conference to learn about asking for money. Within minutes, his affable personality disarmed the crowd making it possible to share his sophisticated understanding of the psychology of potential donors. Mike transformed the programmers from hating the semi-annual pledge drive, because they thought they were begging for money, to relishing the opportunity to ask for donations to support a cause they cared about. He facilitated practice sessions and led discussions with that were engaging and insightful. Our future pledge drives were so much more successful that we were able to cut entire days off of our regular pledge drive and increased our fundraising by over 40% (and that number likely continued to increase as our volunteers practiced the skills taught by Mike). His consultant fees paid for themselves within hours of the launch of our week long pledge drive. As a personal reflection, I served as his staff liaison during the conference. I was just a 25 year old kid with almost no experience but by the time he left I had grown into an expert fundraiser. He built my understanding, gave me confidence, and checked up on me months later- almost like a mentor- I can only guess he did it as a part of his character, he is a good man. My time working with Mike has had a profound impact on my professional career. Mike taught me what potential donors need to know in order to make the choice to write a check, and then taught me how to frame discussions and pitches so that donors could get that level of understanding. I still quote things Mike said- and even though I am sure he worked with lots of fundraisers- his personality, gentle nature, and thoughtfulness made me feel like he was a close friend. I have used these lessons talking with deans of universities, heads of international aid organizations, and ultimately whenever I talk to a new client in my own business. I would recommend Mike without hesitation. He is honest, hardworking, and very sharp. He takes complex ideas and theories about fundraising and turns them into actionable tactics. He has the ability to make even the most reluctant volunteer excited about finding opportunities to ask for donations- he literally changes the way these see philanthropy. A conference headed by Mike is worth dozens of books one could read on the topic. I am not sure what Mike is up to these days, but I am writing this unprompted recommendation because I feel a great debt of gratitude to him for the lessons he offered as a consultant. Although he does not know it, my life, my career, and the causes I support now are better for having learned from him. Mike and I have shared clients on a few projects. He is smart, very creative and can deliver strong results for the client. He is also fun to work with. We make a good team! Mike Wallace is a consumate professional. He always delivers more than promised, and is 100% focused on the success of his clients. Mike is extremely creative and truely thinks "outside the box". I whole-heartedly endorse Mike for any project, I guarantee you will be extremely pleased with the results achieved! Mike has been the perfect partner. His creative and innovative thinking has resulted in not only the launch of a very successful new program for us but also idea generation for constant improvement. It has been a pleasure working with Mike and I look forward to a long term partnership. Mike was a very valuable member to our group as we were developing the overall strategy and approach to our brand launch and marketing plan. His in-depth background and intellect provided many alternative ways to approach and determine our marketing priorities and metrics. His collaborative approach and overall demeanor makes him a great partner and valuable asset to any team. Mike brought his "deep smarts" in marketing to the team, which was very valuable. I appreciated his ability to brandstorm and provide his well thought out recommendations regarding brand marketing to the team. His approach to business and genuine helpful nature made working with him a joy. As Board Member Lead on the Shakti Rising project called ShakTeas, I had the opportunity to work with Mike Wallace during the initial planning period for this startup. Mike's input in the project provided the group with guidance around brand strategy and brand identity. Mike brought his extensive marketing background and innovative thinking to help us solve many issues confronting this social enterprise. Additionally, Mike was a pleasure to work with and significantly contributed with his time completing market research and forming collaborative partnerships with local community members and businesses. Mike would be an important addition to any team he works with. Mike has a rare combination of big picture imagination and tactical know-how. He was very effective in his role, bringing a new product to a crowded market with zero start up capital to support a women's nonprofit organization. His understanding of the market, strategic and creative abilities, and always kind and gentle demeanor made him an absolute pleasure to work with. |