The NonProfit Times - January 15, 2008 - (Page 16)

THE WORLD’S BEST FUNDRAISERS LIVING LEGEND LARRY JONES DRTV, Mail Feed Kids Around The World If they made a movie about Larry Jones’life,it might be a little like the film Forrest Gump.That’s not to say Jones is dim-witted or spends his time at bus stops holding a box of chocolates. But like Gump, Jones has found himself at interesting locations in history. He was in Oklahoma City in 1995 when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed and in New York City the day the World Trade Center towers fell. His organization, Feed The Children (FTC), responded to both tragedies,as well as numerous disasters over the years, from the Asian tsunami to Hurricane Katrina. He gets his message out through every possible means. Just try to flip around the television without seeing a FTC infomercial. Jones started FTC in 1979, after meeting a boy in Haiti who asked him for a nickel at about 9 p.m.so he could buy a roll, his only meal that day. He then asked for three pennies, so he could get the roll buttered. Jones said he also gave him another 12 cents for a soda.“This is tragic,” he thought, as he knew there was tons of wheat just sitting in silos back in Oklahoma. When he returned home, Jones presented his case on the air (when Larry Jones Ministries was only on about a dozen stations). Donating the surplus wheat would help those in Haiti, but also the farmers who were stuck with it, and the federal government, which was subsidizing farmers to grow it. Within two months, Jones had 50 farmers giving him two million pounds of wheat.“I was just going to do that and that was the extent of it,” Jones said. But then he received another 16 tons of black-eyed peas from another farmer.“We had a product in hand.We just had to raise the money to ship it.” Jones hasn’t stopped since, as FTC marks its 29th anniversary this month. In its infancy, FTC raised less than $2 million its first year.Today, it’s a $650million-a-year operation based in Oklahoma City, Okla., with a fleet of 55 semi-tractor-trailers ready to transport food where it’s needed. FTC shipped nearly 130 million pounds of food and essentials last year within the U.S. and to 43 nations, in addition to supplementing 730,000 meals a day around the world. Since its inception, FTC has served children and families in 118 countries worldwide. FTC is perhaps best known for its child sponsorship efforts and pioneering Direct Response Television (DRTV). During its first 10 years, the child sponsorship program had 30,000 children. “I really didn’t plan to start something,” Jones said.“There were no focus groups, none of that, just farmers that said that’d be a great idea. Nobody’s more shocked about what’s taken place than my wife and I. It’s nothing that we planned out,or thought about.” Last year, Jones published his biography, “Keep Walking,” that describes his lifelong efforts to feed children. “You keep walking simply because there are hungry children around the next bend, or the next mile.You can’t let anyone or anything stop you. The need is so great.” Today, Larry Jones Ministries is on 75 television stations. FTC has used television, direct mail and magazine advertising to reach out to the public.“If we can get the word out to people -- Americans are a very compassionate people -- we can move the product,” he said. Jones and his wife, Frances, recently adopted a boy from Kenya who was abandoned and near death. “We FTC raised less than $2 million its first year. Today, it’s a $650-million-a-year operation based in Oklahoma City, Okla., with a fleet of 55 semi-tractor-trailers have a constant reminder in my home of who we are and what our purpose in life is,” he said. “The potential is out there for children; all they want is a chance.To see these kids come and be able to feed these kids, I would do this even if you didn’t pay me,” Jones said.“The world could be a better place if everybody could do something, even a little.” – MARK HRYWNA T R AV E L G U I D E Wouldn’t your Organization benefit from receiving 40% of the commissions (paid as royalties) for conventions, conferences, golf tournaments, group travel, cruises, airline tickets, limos, car rentals, hotels, honeymoon registry, event tickets, excursions, sporting events, theater tickets, concerts, shows, flowers and gourmet gift baskets? All these products and services are available on your customized “private label” travel website. Let us introduce you to a fundraising program that will provide a great Return on Investment! www.sknenterprises.com • Susan K. Nemie 757.374.9823 E-mail: susan@sknenterprises.com 16 JANUARY 15, 2008 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.nptimes.com http://www.feed.tv/marymary http://www.worldexpeditions.com http://www.sknenterprises.com http://www.sknenterprises.com http://www.worldexpeditions.com http://www.nptimes.com

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The NonProfit Times - January 15, 2008 The World's Best Fundraisers On the Road Contents Lists: Election Cycles Donors: High Gift Versus Recent Gift Burnt Offerings: Thank You, Please Fundraising: One Big Family Travel Guide NPT Jobs Resource Directory

The NonProfit Times - January 15, 2008

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