NEPR increases news presence in New York and the Berkshires

The Berkshire Eagle reports that New England Public Radio is adding WNNU-FM to its group of stations.

New England all-news network will now be heard at night in South County

WNNU will broadcast NEPR's all news and information service currently airing in the same area on NEPR's WNNZ. WNNZ is required to reduce power at night limiting its coverage. It is hoped that the 270 watt FM will help fill-in some of the nighttime holes.

It will do more than that. Baby Boomers, the primary market for NPR news and information, prefers to listen FM signals. WNNZ is an AM station.

WAMC already broadcasts in that area which will set up competition for the NPR news audience in the Berkshires and a portion of New York State. NEPR's Executive Director of Broadcasting, Richard Malawista defended in an interview with the Berkshire Eagles. Malawista says his station's presence in the market by saying there's room for both in the Berkshires.

According to Census data this is what the two station will be sharing.

• The Berkshires has been losing population over the past decade...about 1%. 
• There are about 130,000 full-time residents.
• NPR's audience is highly educated. 30% of the population of the Berkshires has a college degree. That compares with about 39% for the rest of Massachusetts.
• About 12% of the population lives below the poverty level compared with 11% for the rest of Massachusetts.
• 19% of the population is over 65. That compares with 14% for the rest of the state.

when did i become a fundraiser?

I was recently asked how a non-profit could wean itself off state funding and become independently funded by corporations, foundations and donors. The person asking assumed I knew how to do this. After all  the public radio station I used to work for in this market would be self-sustaining if not attached to the public television station.  Memberships and underwriting support make up about 92% of the funding for the station. Grants have taken on a much greater role since WNPR changed formats in 2006 but, member support continues to be the most reliable source of income. A combination of compelling content and effective fundraising makes the job so much easier than when I first got into non-profit fundraising three decades ago in Wisconsin. 


When did I become a fundraiser? I think it started about a month after volunteering at a public radio station in Milwaukee. I went on the air asking for donations. We did everything wrong. We threatened, We cajoled. We browbeat and lectured. We even got angry when nobody wanted our mugs and totebags. We sounded desperate. We sounded awful. It got worse as the campaign became longer. The downward spiral desperation was fueled by the lack of calls.


Our fundraising skills aside, there were other reasons nobody called. A bigger reason was that nobody really cared. Nobody cared because the programs and programming wasn't very appealing. It might be safe to say, nobody was listening. At least, when we started fundraising. We (I) did not understand the direct correlation between our content and our ability to raise funds. It was later when I finally understood that programs and programming create an audience. If the audience finds value in the programs offered, if the programs resonate with the values and lifestyle of the audience and, the listeners understand the importance and need for their support, then they will contribute. Everything we did mattered. Our content generated listening and loyalty. The better the content at attracting our core audience, the more likely it was that we could raise contributions around that content.

My short answer to the non-profit was, if they can increase individual support and corporate support (foundations/grants) they could untether themselves from federal and state money. Seems easy enough. Nothing is easy when it comes to fundraising. 

I was told in a job interview last week that fundraising on public radio is a breeze. Just go on the air and thousands of listeners flock to their phones and make a pledge. In fact, most listeners hate fundraisers. They barely tolerate membership campaigns.  As soon as we open our mikes to ask for money, half our audience goes away. As the drives wear on, more listeners escape. Fundraising on public radio (and public TV) was described by David Giovannoni as being like trimming toenails with a shotgun.  Some of those I worked with aggravate the problem. They believe the longer they talk, the more money they will raise. The believe their powers of persuasion wears down the listener. In a way it does. They tune away. They did capture listeners (and viewers) as they tuned in. 

The point the questioner was making was valid. They do not have the reach of 200,000 listeners or 500,000 viewers to draw from. Awareness of what many non-profits are trying to accomplish does not come anywhere close to those numbers. The advantage is the constant awareness of public media's core audience for its broadcast services. If the quality of content consistently meets audience expectations,.  the more likely it is the audience will respond to requests for voluntary donations. 

For non-profits the answer is, a broad base of support from all types of givers. To gain a broad base of support non-profits need to increase awareness of the vital importance of their services. A combination of effective communications and development messages based on the core values of the non-profit and potential donors need to intersect. So many non-profits are looking for a couple of big givers to make fundraising easy. It's also the mindset of some in public broadcasting. It was for one of the CEO's I worked for. Despite having 70,000 donors from all over the state, he valued that one big gift more than the many he had. I have to admit the home run of $100,000 or $1,000,000 all at once is a rush but, as we found out, when a major donor stops giving we were left scrambling to make up the difference.  A broad base of support is important.

A concept we're working on for the FOCUS Center for Autism is "Outcomes." Demonstrating positive outcomes are essential when making the case for support. (Not what you're doing...what you've accomplished from your constituents' perspective.) Not sure what outcomes are all about? This video helps explain.

Demonstrable outcomes help in many ways including with grantors, donors, foundations and major givers.

For public radio...sheer numbers are important. The size and loyalty of the core audience drives membership. I watched for certain benchmarks from among the core. We used Audigraphics. I looked for about 90,000 core listeners who tuned in at least nine times a week for about nine hours each.

The base for other non-profits is much smaller. But loyalty to the unique values they have to offer is much higher. I'm involved in stewardship for a church. There are about 300 regular givers. Instead of an annual median gift of $125...the annual median gift approaches $2,000. The core values of the givers closely match the core values of that church resulting in a much higher annual gift.

Can non-profits offering social services generate this type of giving? Outcomes might be a good place to start.

• Don't underestimate the value of developing relationships with potential big givers.
• Develop relationships with your donors. They know people.
• Non-profit board members must help out. They should be contributors and be willing to network with others to garner support.
• Testimonials help...a lot.
• Keep listening.
• Keep learning.

Music For Earth Day

One of the last projects I worked on in Boston was music for Earth Day. Frankly, it went over like a lead balloon. The staff wasn't into it. Most didn't want to take the time to connect the music with environment. The staff was not eager to connect with Earth Day events. They were understaffed over worked. Day to day obstacles in the working environment didn't allow the staff to focus on this kind of stuff. Or, maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe it was a really lame idea. We never found out if the audience was into it either. By the time Earth Day came around, I was out of there.

Since then, I've heard from others that this kind of stunting does not make a huge difference with the audience. The three strengths I saw were the promotional possibilities, community connections with environmentally concerned groups, and making it seem like the station and its talent were topical and connected.

I wanted to take a broad approach to the music. The music just needed a loose connection. It did not need to be a slam dunk like "My Oklahoma Home" by Bill Cunningham, "Black Sky" by Sam Phillips or "Good Planets are Hard to Find" by Steve Forbert. Anything closely related...even by title...could have been used. I thought we could even stretch the format a little to for the sake of the theme.

My partial playlist:

Good Planets Are Hard to Find - Steve Forbert

Crossing Muddy Waters - John Hiatt

Show Me the River - Eastmountainsouth

Let It Rain - Eric Clapton

Same Rain - Sam Phillips

Blackberry Rain - The Kennedys

No Rain - Blind Melon

Mother Nature's Son - Sheryl Crow

Good Day Sunshine - The Beatles

The Mountains Win Again, Blues Traveler

The Sea - Morchcheeba

Into the Mystic - Van Morrison

Last of the Great Whales - Solas

Black Sky - Sam Phillips

This Hard Land - Bruce Springsteen

My Oklahoma Home - Bruce Springsteen

By The Rivers of Babylon - Jimmy Cliff

Wooden Ships - Crosby Still and Nash

River Jordan - Vusi Mahlasela

Morning Has Broken - Cat Stevens

The Wind - Cat Stevens

Thing of Beauty - Hot House Flowers

Fishin' Blues - Taj Mahal

Sunshine - Jonathan Edwards

      

KCPT TV picks up a radio frequency

Public Television in Kansas City is entering the public radio realm with the planned acquisition of KTBG. KTBG is currently owned by the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.
According to an article in the Kansas City Star, KCPT plans to move the station's tower closer to Kansas City, improve the signal, drop news and sports programming, but retain the AAA music format.

Think before you speak.

One of the aspects of my faith is to Do No Harm. And, a part of Do No Harm is to think before  speaking.

This is something the media should visit and revisit. In the rush to be first we can often get it wrong. In the rush to fill up air time with anything pundits do so much more.

There's a thoughtful piece in the Columbia Journalism Review by Jennifer Vanasco, In marathon explosion coverage, avoid premature accusations.

There are examples in the article of irresponsible speculation from Glenn Beck and others.

 “No American citizen blows up random people,” conveniently forgetting Timothy McVeigh, and regular Fox News guest Erik Rush tweeted, “Let’s kill them,” meaning Muslims."

These comments are hateful and racists. They are deliberately provocative to what end? Americans have perpetrated other mass killings. Think about Sandy Hook, Aurora, Tuscon and Columbine. The perpetrators were all white people. Should we paint white Americans as unstable mass killers?
Obviously not.

I was taught Who, What, Where, When and How. Here's something else to consider.

Layoffs at Maine Public Broadcasting

MPBN to lay off up to 10 people

Cuts in government funding at the state level and the sequestration are resulting in layoffs at MPBN. MPBN President and CEO Mark Vogelzang told the Boston Globe that the layoffs are the result of a projected $400,000 shortfall created by the cuts and less than expected revenues in member donations. The result is the laying off of up to ten employees and the suspension of the production of MPBN's weekly public affairs program, Maine Watch. Maine Watch airs on Maine Public Television. Most of the layoffs are among the video production unit.

Local productions for public television are expensive. This would seem to be the case for Maine Watch. I'm drawing the conclusion that production costs could not be offset by donations at least not in the short term. Sequestration cuts started too far into the fiscal year to be offset. Vogelzang called them the tipping point.

The cost of local television production were a constant source of concern when I worked for a joint licensee. Funding for local productions were dependent on upfront funding from corporations and foundations. Viewers were more interested in supporting specials like "Celtic Woman." The exception in Connecticut was viewer support for UConn Women's Basketball. This was unique and compelling programming that garnered enough support from the community to be self-sustaining. UConn Women's Basketball is now on a cable sports network. The network offers greater reach into the New York market.

CPBN's Content Gets New Direction

WNPR and CPTV will  have somebody in charge of their content. WestportNow.com is reporting that Jim Cutie is the new content director for Connecticut Public Broadcasting. Cutie moves over from the Connecticut Mirror where he was chief executive.

Dean Orton had been in charge of content until he left about a year ago. Orton came back to CPBN a few months ago to become the Chief Operating Officer. In the interim the content on WNPR was run by the producers of the three talk local talk shows and News Director John Dankosky.