Turn the ignition, roll down the windows, and crank up the radio: there’s nothing quite like a summertime drive.It doesn’t matter if I’m running to an appointment, dropping the kids off at day camp - or ideally, going to the beach - as long as the sun is shining, the music is soothing, and the wind is blowing through my hair.
Of course, driving is a daily necessity for many of us living in a rural state, but that doesn’t take away my appreciation for a good road trip. But the people I know also share my concern about the impact our driving has on the environment.
This summer, let Vermont Public Radio help you connect the dots with the VPR Summer Car Raffle! Starting on June 14, you can purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, provided by our good friends at Heritage Automotive Group in South Burlington.
The VPR Summer Car Raffle is a first for VPR, and we’re hoping to make it just as fun as a summer road trip. Over the next four weeks, you’ll hear from people in the community about the many great reasons to participate, and we’ll share your favorite summer road trips, road tunes, driving tips from Car Talk, and more. And to top it off, all proceeds from the raffle will support the programming you value on VPR.
The VPR Summer Car Raffle is open to residents of Vermont and New Hampshire and you must be 18 years old to participate. Please see our website for the full contest rules. Unfortunately, due to the specifics of certain state and national laws, we are unable to offer raffle tickets to residents of New York, Massachusetts and Canada.
Why is VPR doing a raffle? As you know, we are constantly working to reduce the amount of time we spend fundraising on the air. We’ve looked closely at the success of other public radio stations that have held car raffles and think it is something that our listeners will respond to.
We will spend just a couple of days on the air in July encouraging listeners to get their hands on some tickets, but it will be a far cry from a membership drive and it will be much, much shorter! If our raffle is a success, we hope that we can reduce the length of membership drives in the future.
I hope you’ll participate in the VPR Summer Car Raffle; you have until noon on July 17, 2010 to get your tickets. We’ll announce the winner during Car Talk on July 24. I also welcome your feedback and comments on this important effort for your public radio station.
Start your engines!
Sincerely,
Brendan Kinney
Vice President of Development & Marketing
This looks like a great way to support VPR! I do wonder, though, how much of the ticket price goes to VPR and how much goes to the dealership to pay for the car. Or has the full car value been donated?
ReplyDeleteHi there! All of the proceeds from ticket sales will support VPR - the car is being provided by Heritage Automotive Group, a long-time underwriter with VPR. In return for the car they are receiving on-air underwriting! Thanks for writing!
ReplyDeleteI've been listening this morning to the raffle fundraiser on air drive. While I think this is an OK way to raise money for a good cause, I think a disclaimer that a raffle purchase is not tax deductible should be a more regular part of the advertising.
ReplyDeleteHow many tickets are you hoping to sell?
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments - as you might expect, there are a lot of rules that go with this raffle! We've asked folks to include a couple of them - including the non-tax-deductible line - every time they go on the air, followed by explaining that the full rules can be found online.
This is the first time we're doing a car raffle, so on some level we're not really sure what to expect, but our goal for this first year is 2,500 tickets, which would raise $125,000 for VPR!
You do need to be careful about the 'broad' claims made regarding the car. Yes, it get good mileage for a primarily gas powered mid-sized car. It doesn't waste gas idling at red lights. It can run for relatively short distances on electric only. BUT it is still a gas powered car.
ReplyDeleteStatements like "up to 47 MPH on electric before using gas" are unrealistic in anything approaching conservative normal driving. More accurately, it CAN drive in electric up to 47 MPH before the gas engine MUST be turning (but even then not NECESSARILY burning gas if you are on a fairly steep down slope). But you won't get to that speed solely on the electric motor in anything like normal driving. Once up to speed, on a fairly level or descending road the car CAN maintain that speed. It CAN gain speed in electric only if the 'power demand' is light and so is the driver's foot on the accelerator pedal. A LOT of variables as to when it will move solely on electric power come into play and they are all handled by the car's computers.
At least (or at least I haven't heard it lately) you have stopped making the claim that you can drive to work without using gas. This is unrealistic unless you live 1/4 mile from work. Even then, you MIGHT make it to work and back but you will use gas the next day. This is NOT a plug-in car. All electricity that gets into the battery is either from the gas engine generating electricity or from electricity generated by the electric motor while decelerating and/or regenerative braking from a speed attained by using the gas engine.
Hello:
ReplyDeleteI would love to support VPR by purchasing a raffle ticket, but I'm worried about the tax implications of winning! I assume the winner would be responsible for the 6% Vermont tax? That's ~$1800, right? Insurmountable for some, but not all, of course. Just trying to understand it all...
As a NY listener, the fact that NY residents are excluded shows that VPR is not interested in NY listeners or NY contributors. Thanks for letting me know there is no need to consider contributing in the future.
ReplyDeleteCory,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment - the reason we cannot offer raffle tickets to NY residents is because the New York "game of chance" laws require that the organization conducting a raffle have an office in the state, which VPR does not at this time. Please know that we highly value our New York listeners and supporters! This raffle is a new concept for VPR, and if it is successful we will work to expand it to other states in the future!
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI live in Massachusetts and I was about to purchase some tickets but then found where it says that only VT&NH residents can. I suggest that you should have made that clear in the announcement on the radio.
Thanks!