Door-to-Door Business Visits Pay Big Dividends
Tell City Fire Chief Dennis Kessans (left) and Firefighter Jeremy Yackle
Tell City, Indiana (pop. 9,500) -- Chief Dennis Kessans of the Tell City Volunteer Fire Department in Indiana led a short and powerful local thermal imager campaign that brought in $26,000 in just three months to purchase two T3MAX thermal imagers. While a $10,000 local grant from Perry County Community Foundation brought in a large share, the bulk of funds have come from local business and industry, as well as local residents. Starting early in December, Chief Kessans and other firefighters went door-to-door asking for support from local organizations, discussing the technology and the goal, and leaving behind a fundraising letter with each contact.
Chief Dennis Kessans: “Our original goal was to buy one unit, but when the money started to come in, we went for a second one. We’ve been surprised at the level of local support. We’ve never asked people in Tell City to give us anything, so this was a first. They were overwhelmingly happy to help us out.”
Funding Tip:
Over the course of just two months, Chief Kessans pulled together funding for not one, but two thermal imagers. His approach was simple and highly effective: He made face-to-face connections and left information with each contact. Don’t forget the importance of making personal appeals and asking for the donation.