An Interview With Earl Martin Phalen, CEO, Reach Out and Read

FS: Have you had any major difficulties or setbacks you've faced along the way? Things you would do differently with your fundraising?
EP: The low cost of the program makes Reach Out and Read unique: We need only $50 to fund a single child in the five-year program. As a result, it is a challenge to get donors to understand that we still need large grants to fund our operating expenses and other program costs to ensure the high quality and impact of our program across each of our 4,654 sites. More often than not, we undersell ourselves and fail to capitalize on our true capabilities to maximize the program’s scope.