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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal> Good afternoon and happy Easter to everyone,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> We caught much of the BlindWithU Concert yesterday afternoon and evening. The performances were awesome! We were amazed with the wide variety of musical styles shared by blind persons throughout the World including at least one blind Ukrainian.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> There was only one issue with this event that we hope won’t be repeated in the future. We tried making a contribution via the online form but had difficulty getting our credit card to process. Wanting to be counted among the contributors we wanted to contribute by phone but were quite disgusted that there were no live operators manning the phone lines to assist with contribution processing. Those wishing to contribute by phone were asked to leave a number and would receive a callback during the coming week.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Anyone who listens to or watches publicradio/television, contributes to such campaigns like the Laborday Jerry Lewis Telethon, and many other such fundraisers are never told to leave a callback number. KENS 5, our local CBS Affiliate in San Antonio often raises funds for area agencies and organizations. They recruit volunteers to man their call center during these campaigns instead of telling these contributors to expect a callback next week. Why was the same thing not done to process phone contributions during the BlindWithU Concert? The National Center has space for a call center. Another option would have been to have volunteers take phone contributions remotely. Given that we needed to adjust how we do things during the pandemic and the increasing popularity of remote work it should have been a no-brainer to have a call center up and running for this event. Contributions would have been processed in real-time and the amount raised could have been much higher. People! We’re the National Federation of the Blind! We can do better than that! It’s our hope that should another fundraiser of this kind be undertaken and contributors are invited to donate by phone that “Operators will be standing by to process their contributions.” Let this be history that will not be repeated. We’ll be curious to hear what the final amount raised was. Happy easter everyone.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Peter Donahue<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>