Recently, I attended a discussion about how non-profits can leverage corporate support. Many non-profits are finding themselves in the situation Public Broadcasting started to face in the 80's when the Reagan administration applied a rescission to the funding for CPB. The funding was cut by 50%.
Suddenly, membership campaigns and underwriting became very important.
The discussion got around to foundation support and grants. A key to renewal of grants is deliverables and, how the deliverables are communicated to the grantor.
The foundations we worked with in Connecticut were interested in education issues, the environment and, healthcare for the poor. The tendency might be to focus only on the obvious...audience size and the number of reports. The foundations we worked with in Connecticut wanted measurables beyond the standards of audience data and the number of reports and programs offered. We kept track of the contacts we made when researching the issues and the reports. We kept track of the community groups we interacted with as a result of our conversations inside and outside the building. We also included information about the number of on-air promotions, Social Media mentions and interactions, phone conversations, emails, podcasts and the hits to the Webpage.
Getting outside the broadcast facility is important. It is a lot like networking. Public Broadcasting is not just what it puts out over the air or the web. It is a lot more than the one-way conversations of the 70's, 80's and 90's. The community connections created by the community service we offer are much broader than we realize.
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