Risky Business
Ted Engstrom placed a huge bet—and children were the winners.
Marty Lonsdale
The idea was new, daring, and scary-big. In 1975, Russ Reid, a direct-marketing executive in Pasadena, sat down with his longtime friend and client, Ted Engstrom, then president and CEO of World Vision. In a few short years, the organization had, with help from the Russ Reid Agency, recruited thousands of regular monthly donors whose gifts ensured food and education for deserving children in Third-World countries. A good story to tell, unless you were one of the millions of other kids World Vision sought to serve.
Russ already had Ted's ear. Prior to 1971, World Vision teams had been bringing needs to light by caravanning 16-millimeter films to churches across the U.S. The picture suddenly changed when Russ dared to ask, "What if you brought the same stories of an unschooled Kenyan boy or a malnourished Haitian girl into the homes of millions of people with the immediacy and urgency of live television?" Ted leaned forward.
The idea was unheard of at the time. It would be a one-hour television special hosted by a trusted, well-known presenter such as Art Linkletter. Testimonial endorsements from Christian public figures—World Vision child sponsors themselves—would inspire and encourage viewers to pledge their support.
Being a hard-nosed businessman, Ted believed in doing his due diligence. He asked the good, necessary questions:
- What would it require? Expert on-camera talent, first-class filmmaking, a professional-looking studio set and the infrastructure to fulfill donor pledges.
- How long would it take to create a one-hour special? About six months.
- Where would the rollout take place? Perhaps Cleveland.
Over the coming days and weeks the two men talked strategy, logistics, and, of course, cost. Teams of people were brought in. Brainstorming, opinions, boxed lunches, and prayer were in no short supply.
One day, Ted asked, "What if the idea doesn't work?"
"Then," said Russ, "you'll have the most expensive church film in history."
Undaunted, Ted said, "Yes." The first broadcast, called "Children of Zero," revealed the conditions of needy youngsters living on an island near Hong Kong. A second TV special, "Search for Survival," introduced viewers to an impoverished farmer struggling to eke out an existence in Bangladesh.
People responded, and many young lives were changed. Yet, even after four years of successful one-hour TV specials, Russ envisioned something bigger.
One day in 1975, he presented the idea of a five-hour telethon, aired in strategic cities. This was a quantum leap of time, energy, and resources to film the stories and produce the broadcasts.
The demonstrated impact of the initial one-hour broadcasts caused Ted to approve four five-hour telethons.
Telling Stories
It was all about telling stories and keeping them clear and compelling. Every six months we returned to the broadcast cities where we had experienced success and re-aired the program. This enabled us to more fully amortize production costs. By 1985, 250,000 sponsors had signed on.
Sometimes it took up to six months to film, edit, and package the stories for each broadcast. In the mid-1980s, this approach gave way to another technological innovation. Jerry McClun, vice president of media and television at Russ Reid, had worked as a TV news producer in Chicago. "In TV news," he said, "you don't have months; you have one day to take a video crew to the scene of an accident, rush back to the studio, edit the story, and air it that evening. What if.
"
The 1985 Armero earthquake in Columbia provided the bittersweet opportunity to test Jerry's strategy. The stories of tearful faces and torn-apart homes were edited on the fly, uplinked to a satellite, and beamed into homes in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Diego, Denver, and other cities—within hours.
Today, 20 years later, new technologies have radically shortened the distance between human need and a donor's heart. Families that used to channel surf and happen upon World Vision programs no longer have to wait days to learn the name and circumstances of the children they will sponsor. They simply go to World Vision's website and choose the boy or girl they want to love.
Faith always requires a choice. After considering all the upsides and risks that came with Russ Reid's new approach, Ted Engstrom courageously said, "Yes."
On that day, he laid down the soundtrack for a new generation of moving pictures.
Marty Lonsdale is Vice President of Donor Engagement for World Vision.
