It's an open letter to her son's therapists. In the blog she offers insights into what it is like to be the parent of a special needs child. The experience can be isolating.
Among the insights...
I'll tell you that as a parent, it is tough to get your head around the fact that you have a child you can't help.
Do you know how much we have to fight for our kids? The biggest surprise to me in this special needs parenting world was how much I have to advocate for my son to people who should be on his team. Schools, therapists, doctors, insurance -- you name it, it was probably a battle.
Your training should have included how much this therapy costs. I'm sure it didn't, but I'd like you to understand the sacrifices we are making to pay for all of this.
We too have special needs children. They are young adults now. They've made a lot of progress, but their needs have not gone away.
And this...there is no cure for Autism...there is no pill to take for treatment. Therapy is the only way right now, and it is expensive.
Boomers still spend the most time with Public Radio. Gen X and Millennials are in the mix, but spend about half as much time with Public Radio as Boomers.
Boomers still spend the most time at home listening. Millennials spend the most time listening away from home...about 65%.
Washington, DC is the top market when measured as a percent of total radio listening. Vermont is second. Connecticut is in the top 10.
Nielsen calls the audience diverse with about 8% of the audience Hispanic and 10% African American.
The City Council in Columbia, South Carolina decided to do something about the homeless congregating downtown. In the Summer of 2013 they voted to arrest the homeless if they refused to be put in a remote camp. Not all of these stories end badly. Within days of passing an ordinance in Columbia, SC that would have made homelessness a crime, people within their own community rose up to protest. Among the protesters...the police. The Homeless will no longer be swept up and taken to a camp against their will. The option of going to the camp is still there, but only as a temporary solution while other options are explored.
If the coalition of the police, city workers and advocates had not made their voices heard, Columbia would have gone back to the days of debtor prisons and prison camps. Speaking up can make a difference.
But the idea of throwing people in poverty in jail is gaining momentum. According to an article in Community Digital News...
According to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, 100 of America’s largest 187 cities has passed anti-homeless laws. These laws criminalize everything from sleeping in cars to lying down in public; 30 percent of American cities ban sitting or lying in public. In 2011, 37 cities banned sleeping in cars; that’s now illegal in 81 cities.These laws carry penalties that the homeless can rarely pay; sleeping in your car in Palo Alto, California can result a fine of $1,000. The alternative is jail – up to six months.
Homelessness and Hunger
All this while homelessness is on the rise. The National Center for Family Homelessness reports that the number of homeless children is now 1.3 million.
Not only is it illegal to be homeless...in some cities it is illegal to help. NPR reports that "21 cities have passed measures aimed at restricting the people who feed the homeless since January 2013. In that same time, similar legislation was introduced in more than 10 cities. Combined, these measures represent a 47 percent increase in the number of cities that have passed or introduced legislation to restrict food sharing since the coalition last counted in 2010."
Reuters reports a Harvard study is linking exposure to air pollution in the third trimester of pregnancy to Autism. The researchers are saying the risk doubles. The study began in 1989 and involved 116,000 nurses.
Marc Weisskopf, a study author says,‘‘One of the unique aspects of the study we did is that it provides an even stronger piece of evidence for there being a causal effects. It’s really the pollution doing it.’’
There's a Caveat
Further down in the article Charis Eng, chairwoman of the Genomic Medicine Institute at the Cleveland Clinic says, "While the Harvard study isn’t definitive and the findings could be coincidental, it’s not likely given the large size and the precise result."
If there is a link...would this be impetus for change in how we view the importance of our environment? Any change starts with us.
It was a really important say for NPR and Public Media as they've recognized for their reporting.
The Dupont award is the equivalent of the Pulitzer for broadcast news. Among the reports winning DuPont Awards:
The Associated Press reports Senator Tom Coburn, a lame duck Republican from Oklahoma, blocked a bill that would have renewed a government program credited with reviving the market for insurance against terrorist strikes after the Sept. 11 attacks.
This might mean the Super Bowl could be cancelled, but the effects are larger than the shared media experience and the loss of ad revenues. Not to mention the billions lost because of the cancelled Super Bowl parties.
The costs would shift entirely to the private sector. Especially hard hit will be companies in construction, real estate, hospitality and major sports leagues, which face crippling insurance costs and spiraling rates as the program lapses.
Increased insurance costs will be passed on directly to the consumer rather than spreading the costs through a government subsidy. Since consumers may not be willing to pay the increased costs...The the shift in expenses will drive some of the affected companies out of businesses and result in job losses. The program provides a government backstop for insurance companies in the event of catastrophic losses, and had widespread support from business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Coburn objects to the government back subsidy as a moneymaker for the insurance companies to the tune of $40 billion over the past 12 years.
It's been about 40 years, but I still remember the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Back then, I was into music on the edges. I was looking for and finding things that were outside the mainstream.
When I was discovering groups like Paul Butterfield and Blues Project and guitarist Michael Bloomfield, none of it was on the radio. I tried stuff. I would sort through records racks and buy based on the look of the cover. I looked for tracks that were over three minutes. Some of the search was based on the labels like Electra and Verve Folkways. Some of it was based on word of mouth and sharing.
So, while many of my contemporaries were listening to "This Diamond Ring" and "Red Rubber Ball," a few of us were listening to "Born in Chicago," "Two Trains Running," and "Wine." Having Paul Butterfield nominated affirms, in a way, the choices made over 40 years ago.
Underground radio broadened these horizons for a few years. In Milwaukee we had WTOS, WZMF and WRKR. I even worked part time at WRKR for a while where that spirit of sharing music lived. We kept the focus on the music. We took pains to get out of the way and let the music speak. These three stations were commercial. The format could not sustain itself with advertisers, but the music is still there if you look for it. WTOS was sold and became an EZ Listening station. WZMF had a weak signal into the Milwaukee Market. Eventually, it was sold and became the Commercial Classical Station in the market, WFMR. That has since been sold and is now an urban adult contemporary station, WJMR. WRKR moved its transmitter closer to Milwaukee and changed formats several times. It is now owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. with the call letters WKKV playing urban hot hits.
That spirit sharing still lives on AAA stations on Public Radio. Stations like The Current, WTMD and WXPN are discovering and sharing daily.
Click on the links below to see what I was sharing with my friends in the late sixties.
You've heard those stations that play Christmas Music non-stop, right? Does it seem like they start earlier every year? I avoid them. I would rather take my commercial Christmas music in small doses. It is true that the music can make me nostalgic. I guess it's all about a longing for home. Perhaps, a longing for safer and more secure days in my childhood. But, I can't go there non-stop.
Apparently others can and do. It's a ratings bonanza for the radio stations that play all Christmas Music, and that translates into revenue.
If you're like me and find the commercialism disconcerting, fear not. Charles Schultz got it right.
The symbolism of the evergreen is the hope it represents that we will emerge from the bleak midwinter and be renewed like the earth with the coming of spring.
I was listening to my local public radio station this morning as they kick off their fund drive. The announcer says, "I'm going to talk directly to the listeners now." He then went into a two minute pitch about coffee mugs.
Who, exactly, was he talking to before?
Radio a personal medium. Listeners develop loyalties to radio stations based on the content and how well that content speaks to their personal values and fits in with their lifestyle. Radio stations that resonate with listeners become companions.
In the 60's Marshall McCluhan talked about radio, “Radio affects most intimately, person-to-person, offering a world of unspoken communication between writer-speaker and the listener. That is the immediate aspect of radio. A private experience. The subliminal depths of radio are charged with the resonating echoes of tribal horns and antique drums. This is inherent in the very nature of this medium, with its power to turn the psyche and society into a single echo chamber.”(Understanding Media:The Extensions of Man,Marshall McLuhan)
Telling Stories
And, that is why storytelling is so important. McCluhan points out in Understanding Media, If we sit and talk in a dark room, words suddenly acquire new meanings and different textures. They become richer, [...]. All those gestural qualities [...] come back in the dark, and on the radio. Given only the sound of a play, we have to fill in all of the senses, not just the sight of the action. So much do-it-yourself, or completion and “closure” of action, develops a kind of independent isolation in the young that makes them remote and inaccessible.” (264)
The same holds true for Public Radio. The platforms are changing. Radio is no longer considered the disruptive media, Social Media is. Perhaps radio has lost some of its edge because of the homogenization of the medium by large corporations like iheartmedia. Through Social Media there are many more venues for the content. But, the core values...the reasons for listening and loyalty...are the same. The station I was listening to is an NPR news stations. According to PRPD's Core Values Project, "In news, we met listeners who are deeply engaged in contemporary public life and culture; whose vigilant curiosity about the world brings them to public radio for depth and context. They see the world as part of an interconnected web of causal relationships and want us to help them connect the dots by focusing on the "why", not just the "what" of issues and events. They believe in the power to find solutions for the problems of their community, their nation and their world."
Understand Your Audience
I used to be employed in Public Radio. I still have my PRPD 20th Anniversary mug. Inside the mug, toward the the rim, it says, "Think Audience." That maxim came out of the Radio Research Consortium (RRC) in the late 70's. Tom Church, the founder of the RRC championed working with Arbitron data as a way to measure response to our programming. John Sutton puts it well. "Church didn't say "Think Share Points" or "Think Cume." His words were "Think Audience" and their purpose was to get public radio programmers to focus on how listeners respond to a station's programming."
There is so much information about what makes radio, and public radio appealing. There is so much that public radio is doing right by telling stories that put issues and ideas into context. There's nothing in there about mugs. So, why is that the fall-back position for fundraising?
It has been said many time before. Radio...as we know it...is dead. Television, Cable, Satellite Radio, Internet Radio...now podcasts? Maybe.
Check out this report heard on Weekend Edition today.
Funding includes crowd funding, and advertising. This makes a few of these podcasts self-sustaining. Are podcasts ready to supplant radio. By public radio standards the audience is still niche. The costs are a lot lower than radio. It's an advantage. Running a public radio station is expensive.
Disruptive Technology
New technology is around the corner that will take away radio's advantage in the car. John C. Dvorak is cohost of the No Agenda podcast. He says this new technology is also bringing into question the future of broadcasting itself. "I think it is disruptive. And eventually, when we have real-time Internet availability in a moving car, it's going to be very difficult for conventional radio to compete with this model. I just don't think it's possible."
Public Radio is safe for now. Once the community of listeners disperses in large enough numbers to other platforms, Public Radio will no longer be able to support itself. I fret that the true loss may be the editorial gatekeepers. I search for trusted sources for information. Where are the firewalls and editorial standards in social media? I'm not sure I can trust bloggers and podcasters. Not from what I've read and heard.
The language used by Officer Darren Wilson to describe his confrontation with Michael Brown was racists. So we might have a racists cop in fear for his life firing at least six rounds into an un-armed man. In Darren Wilson's Testimony, Familiar Themes About Black Men.
(How a development function should be built and how integrated
communication is necessary to support that function.)
Development, marketing and communications are co-dependent. My qualifications
and skills in these areas are based a significant experience in public media.
Through research of the intended audience, fundraising-awareness programming
strategies were developed that were focused on building the following:
·Regular, frequent, loyal donors;
·A strong perception of personal
value;
·And an understanding of the
importance of giving.
I believe the concepts (and lessons) learned in these projects are
applicable to most community service-based development functions. I have a
belief that community service begets community support.
Of course
great content, by itself, doesn‘t raise a dime and there is no meter running
that automatically brings in revenue without these factors:
·Reliability and trust of the offered service;
·The contributor understands his or her personal
importance;
·A connection with the contributor’s personal values
It is only
when these essential factors are combined with a disciplined, coordinated
development program that users become givers and the virtuous cycle of public
service generating public support to fuel still more service—begins to engage.
Content
and giving are interlaced. Good marketing efforts are wasted if the content
provided by a service does not match the values and lifestyle of the intended
audience.
Giving is
dependent on the following:
―If a
person:
Has an awareness of the service;
Uses the service;
Finds the service to be valuable;
Believes he or she needs to do his
or her share;
Has money to give and…
Four of the five factors are driven by the services own
performance. (Audience 98)
In public
radio we confirmed that:
Public radio givers can be predicted primarily from patterns
of listening.
Reliance may be measured
by purely behavioral variables like loyalty to a service and becoming a
core user.
Personal
importance is an internal realization.
Individuals who not only listen but
also sense that public radio has become important in their lives are more
likely to become givers.
Education adds predictive power to our model.
Half of public radio givers have earned an advanced degree, an indicator
of their socially responsible values and upscale lifestyles.
Belief that public radio depends on
listener support adds some predictive powerto our model, but
the strong predictors are behavioral
reliance upon public radio along with a sense of personal importance. (Public Radio Tracking Study, Turning
Listeners into Givers)
These
studies highlight how quality fundraising success is really about building a
relationship with the intended audience.
John Dankosky's Blog about Tom Magliozzi (Why Everyone Who Loves Public Radio Should Thank Tom Magliozzi) reminds of the time I decided to take Car Talk off the air. We had a classical music audience. The phone calls about the show were hostile...vehement. Based on those calls and the urging of the station manager I pulled the plug. It was a big mistake. I learned a lesson about programming by phone call. The caller represents his or her interest...nothing more. Audience figures over the next six months convinced me I made a mistake. Our Saturday morning audience went to our public radio competitors. Fund raising took a big hit. Within a year Car Talk was back. The program was welcomed back in a big way with a huge audience and blockbuster fundraising as described by John in his blog posting. I've been told the audience for Car Talk continues to be strong.
Community of Listeners
Reinstating Car Talk was the the impetus for the gathering of the public radio community. That community is one of the key concepts of the Audience '98 research project.
If givers think of public radio as a community, then a fund drive is a barn raising, not the Home Shopping Network. On-air pitching is passing the hat, not selling Beanie Babies. Shirts and mugs – still the most popular premiums – are emblems of membership and pride in the community, not merchandise exchanged for cash.
"Sense of community" may add dimension to the seminal concept of personal importance, and thereby help public radio professionals to influence giving, focus fundraising messages, and schedule programming.
Communication technologies let us choose our neighbors based on their sympathies rather than their proximities. Being connected to other people by psychological rather than geographical space isn't so alien anymore.
Audience loyalty and support grew by leaps and bounds after Car Talk found a permanent place on WNPR's schedule on Saturday Morning. It was as if we had crossed a threshold of Core Listening. A solid base of support resulted. Radio at Connecticut Public Broadcasting became self sustaining.
If that sense of community disappears...Public Radio will become a memory.
KYVE in Yakima, Washington closed its offices last week. It was the last vestiges of local public television for the community. The station has been in decline for the past few years according to an article in the Yakima Herald Republic. Local programming ended in May
Rebranded / On the Air
The station remains on the air as a repeater of KCTS, Seattle. KCTS officials are looking into ways of returning some localism. One idea is to open a development office in Yakima.
There's a TV anchor in our area that uses drama in her presentation. She adds all sorts of dramatics to words "deadly" and "murder." It always bothered me. I couldn't understand why, at first. Now I do. She's making the news all about herself as a news personality. The emphasis is on schtick over substance. It diminishes the importance of the story.
These are Consistent Liberals and Consistent Conservatives. Their views consistently lean left or right. They represent about 20% of the population, and they do not leave room for other points of view. They are the most partisan. They have one thing in common. They tend to lead political discussions.
One Source v. Many
Consistent Conservatives rely primarily on one news source, Fox News. Consistent Liberals rely on several including the BBC, PBS, NPR and the New York Times. Another way of looking at this? Liberals are willing to look at the news from a variety of perspectives. When I worked in public media, those who listened would comment they liked the various perspectives offered in our coverage. Another way to think about it - the liberal sources are known for their journalism. Fox News is known for pundits.
Here's a graphic from Pew that puts this in perspective....
One in five wealthy givers think their gifts are making a difference. Turning that around...80 percent think their gifts are not making a difference.
The Chronicle for Philanthropy cites a study by UBS Wealth Management Americas that state 90% of the wealthiest Americans give, but only 20 percent feel their contributions are making a difference.
Spur of the Moment
Sameer Aurora, head of client strategy at UBS Wealth Management Americas, said he was surprised by the results. People thought their giving made little difference. Aurora says, one reason for the problem "People tend to give as they're asked by friends and family, reacting to spur-of-the-moment requests at random." Sameer goes on to say, donors who are happier with their philanthropy tend to have plans in place.
Matching Lifestyle and Values
You can read more at the Chronicle for Philanthropy website including the finding that the wealthy derive more personal meaning from volunteering than from giving money. There seems to be a disconnect between the charity and the donor. If there a solid connection between the lifestyle and values of the giver the goals and core values of the charity, perhaps there would be a stronger connection and a realization that the gift is making a huge difference. A better connection between the giver and recipient seems to be important. Younger givers...according the study...are looking for that connection.
I spend a lot of time working on fundraising these days. I used to be exclusively a content person in Public Broadcasting. That is, until I realized that compelling content can enable fundraising. Outcomes and good storytelling make it easier to ask for money. Those who give to non-profits care about where they're money is going. They want to know who is going to benefit from their contribution. Contributors want to feel good about their giving. This is a shift in thinking on the part of many fundraisers.
I'm always searching for stories.
Compelling Content
I came across a compelling story at the Huffington Post by Alena Hall. She tells the story of two homeless dogs and the homeless man who was trying to care for them. The lives of the dogs changed dramatically when Robyn Arouty, a portrait photographer and animal rescuer based in Houston found them outside the train station there. Arouty, with the man's permission, took the dogs in.
Community that Cares
The story of the dogs and the homeless man were shared PetCaring.com. They crowd source funding for stray dogs and cats. Within a week enough money was raised to get the dogs (Madonna and Anthony Ciccone) the care they needed. David, the homeless man, agreed to allow the dogs be put up for adoption. His act was selfless. So was Robyn's. I think they both ended up feeling better. They both made a difference.
Social Media marketers often talk and write about listening. TechTarget defines listening also known as social media monitoring, is the process of identifying and assessing what is being said about a company, individual, product or brand. Google Alerts and Hootsuite are two of the tools used. During the membership drive at WNPR we used a less sophisticated tool. We asked.
Telling Stories
An effective tool in fundraising for non-profits is storytelling. The stories are an effective tool in reaching potential donors. So, instead of focusing on the needs of the station, I asked how the station was fulfilling the needs of the listener. In essence, we were listening and then engaging by reading the comments of listeners. It seemed to work. This morning we went over goal again. We tried it last week and went over our goal by 25%. This week we had challenge funds to go with our pitching and exceeded out goal by 33%.
A Two Way Street
So much of what we do in radio is one way. We provide the content. The listener listens. That's it. Asking for and using comments is a bit unusual.
The comments were short and to the point. As listeners started to participate...more became involved.
Here are some of those comments. Many of them speak to the companionship of radio.
WNPR is my connection to the world!
I'm a third grade teacher. I get a lot of ideas about current events from your program and share them with my students.
I like all the points of view.
You keep me informed and help me to connect the dots.
Thanks very much. You are a part of every morning and afternoon.
I listen to NPR all the time and wanted to give back.
I listen on the way to and from work. It gives me a half-hour a day to catch up on interesting topics. I love listening to you.
I wanted to make sure I could help with the match. I listen every single day.
I love NPR! I have been listening to it since moving to Connecticut in 2006.
I've been listening for years. It keeps me company day and night.
I see it as continuing education and life-long learning.
Most of these people have been listening for a long time. They tune-in several times a week and listen to several programs. The duration of each tune-in is around an hour. They're loyalty to the station is important. Their loyalty makes it more likely they will contribute.
Being a part of the top income earners doesn't mean they give more. The total dollars given by this group has increased, but the percent of income has decreased.
The Chronicle for Philanthropy reports, "As the recession lifted, poor and middle class Americans dug deeper into their wallets to give to charity, even though they were earning less. At the same time, according to a new Chronicle analysis of tax data, wealthy Americans earned more, but the portion of the income they gave to charity declined." Americans earning $200,000 or more are giving 4.6% less than they were in 2012 that they were in 2006.You can see more of the report at The Chronicle of Philanthropy website.
Giving was down in our largest cities. Among the top 50 markets giving was down in 2012 in 36 markets. Giving rates in New England bump along the bottom. Percent of income giving in the Hartford and Providence metro's were 1.9%. Boston wasn't much better at 2.3%. Salt Lake City and Memphis were the most generous. They gave more than 5% of income.
Despite the disparity, American charities continue to pursue high income donors. This begs the question. What is more valuable...the one really big gift or smaller contributions from many donors?
I sat in at my local public radio station this week asking for contributions. By public radio standards it was a huge success. During Morning Edition we went over goal by 25%. We didn't have a drawing. We didn't have a challenge grant. We had thank you gifts, and for many, that can become the main focus of their pitch. But that wasn't ours. We took it in a different direction.
Pledge Drift
There was a risk in doing it this way. Response has been good to the request for funds based on pledging tied to thank you gifts. At least the focus of the pledge is on something the listener might want. Selling logo'd items can generate a response. Selling books that are the subject of an interview can generate response too. I have several public radio mugs in my collection. Still, thank you gifts don't get to the reason why people listen or give. Giving is tied to listening and loyalty. Once you've got them listening several times a week, you have a better chance the listener will become a supporter.
Feeling Good
I applied articles I've been researching on what works. Some of the answers can be found in previous blogs,Why We Give and Why We Give - It Makes us Feel Good.People responded best when the request is taken to a personal level. When we shared experiences and stories from listeners, we got response. We told their stories.
Coming up with the stories was easy. I simply asked the listeners to give me a reason why they find WNPR to be so valuable. Why are they listening? Are there programs they find important? Is there a memorable moment they want to share to inspire others to give? Most of the comments were a line or two. All of the stories were something the listener could relate to.
I still included the facts and figures and the thank you gifts, but the compelling stuff was in the listeners' responses. The focus was on the listener, not on WNPR’s needs. It was a success. We exceeded our goals that morning by 25%.
Caution - Contents are Hot
The key to this approach is the loyalty and the size of the P1 audience has towards the content. If a programming segment has high listener loyalty, the approach is likely to work. If the loyalty is lower, other factors like gifts need to be employed. When I worked in Milwaukee, we could not generate many calls of support during classical music unless there was a premium tied to the pitch. Perhaps the content was not all that compelling. Compelling and well-crafted content always makes the job of the fundraiser easier.
In order for Public Radio to remain relevant, it needs to be on the platforms its listeners are using.
WBUR is now on Google Glass. They have an app for that. My question...is Google Glass relevant? Is a large and growing segment of the public radio audience gravitating to Google Glass? Google says yes. Sales projections are in the billions.
Last week Sony announced a competitor. Before you start thinking there may be another Beta/VHS battle looming...The article about the Sony glasses and Google Glass points out that the market has been uncertain with some backlash against the product. You can read more at Silicon Angle. The price is high...$1,500 to about $2000.
WBUR is the first public radio station in the country to debut Google Glass app.
Time Magazine reported last October that we are motivated to give because it makes us feel good. Maia Szalavitz reported on findings in the Journal of Neurosciencethat our feelings of altruism are driven by feelings of hope that we will put smiles on expectant face in the appeals we read or see. Presenting a single story without all sorts of data is more likely to motivate giving. "Quantifying the size of a disaster or particular need paradoxically lowers giving." The identifiable victim elicited the greatest response. The researchers also found that giving was more generous if the photo of a certain activity center in the brain was activated, It's an area that deals with all areas of pleasure.
"Activity in their nucleus accumbens spikes— a brain region linked to every type of pleasurable experience— in this reward area spiked, potential donors felt good and gave more. And the photos of the children were more likely to activate this reward center."
Self Sacrifice Works Too
A 2011 report on NPR highlighted the results on giving in an interview with charity researcher Chris Olivola at Warwick University.
As in the report above, a compelling story has more impact than information about the thousands who are in need of our charity. The story brings the need down to something we can make a difference about. Thousands is overwhelming. Learning something about a person in need draws us in and convinces us we can make a difference.
"When people give to charity, they're give far more money to a single suffering person than to a population of suffering people."
It turns out suffering can motivate us...Our own suffering.
In 2010 Olivola co-authored a book called "the Science of Giving. The book includes all kinds of experiments, some of the surprising experiments about why we give. Included is Olivola's own work on a kind of charity that now seems completely ordinary: marathoning for a cause. Olivola's experiment included something really painful. He gave a group of people five dollars. He also gave them the opportunity to give a portion of the money to a charity. Half of the people were required to put their hands in very cold...painfully cold water for sixty seconds. "What we found was that people in that condition, the cold-water condition, gave more money. They gave $4, out of $5, to the group, even though we basically give them incentive not to give." Those who were not asked to make a sacrifice gave about $3. Sound familiar? It sounds a lot like the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS.
What's in it for me (WIIFM) – There’s got to be more
According to an article in Christianity
Today by Bruce Wydick, most of us are motivated to give out of a sense of
reciprocity. We give because we hope to get something back. The article points out, “reciprocity is embedded in the cultures of
much of the poor world today. James Scott at Yale and other anthropologists
have demonstrated how the poor in developing countries use reciprocal acts of
generosity as survival mechanisms, providing, for example, informal insurance.
A family bringing food to another who is temporarily unable to work due to
illness is not only regarded as kind; the act represents an investment in a
reciprocal claim when the situation may be reversed.”
Jesus wants us to
give to serve the greater good without the expectation that we will get
something back. Our reward comes much later.
Then Jesus said to his host [a
prominent Pharisee], "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite
your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do,
they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a
banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, and you will
be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the
resurrection of the righteous." (Luke 14:12-14, NIV).
rec·i·proc·i·ty
ˌresəˈpräsətē/
noun
the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit, especially privileges granted by one country or organization to another.
Thoughtful Giving – Generous Souls
The Charities
Aid Foundation (CAF) of Great Britain recently asked 700 of their regular
donors their motivations for their generosity. They asked why they gave and
what could grow giving in the UK. Personal values, sense of morality, belief in
a specific cause, and faith all scored above 70% as a motivator. Growing the
ranks of givers depends on effectively communicating outcomes. More than eight out of 10 (81%) said that
more hard evidence on the impact of charities’ work would be likely to increase
giving significantly. This underlines an appetite for a yet greater level of
communication between donor and cause, and more transparency in the ways
charities work.
The second most common response was that companies need to
do more to support charities, with 78% agreeing with this statement. Tax also
plays a key role. Three quarters (77%) of those they surveyed thought it was
likely that if donors had a better understanding of existing tax incentives it
would increase giving significantly, and a similar proportion (76%) said that
they would welcome more generous tax breaks.
Faith plays a significant role (Response to the GAF Poll)
“My faith informs my
giving and when I give regularly to the church it is nice to know that I am
contributing towards a church project or towards paying the salary of one of
its workers. I think as a society to some extent we don’t value giving enough,
but it is encouraging being in a church where you can clearly see the
generosity of other congregation members.” AJ Finch
- Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) “Why We Give”
“Our giving is based
on the belief that everything we have belongs to God and that we should give
back both to the church and those in need.” Amy Bright - Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)
“Why We Give”
“I have always known
that we are very privileged compared with many other people and, as a
Christian, I think that all gifts come from God and to God we return them. They
are not ours, they are given to us by God – whether it’s the brains,
opportunities or health to earn the money, or the inherited wealth. I would
encourage anyone who doesn’t give to think about those who are less fortunate
than themselves.” Charm Robson - Charities
Aid Foundation (CAF) “Why We Give”
“Stories help. The
stories of the improvements that are made on the international front through
quite small changes, the story of a guy I was mentoring last year who now has a
job, stories from Jamaica, where we’re funding two development projects.
Telling people stories I think helps. When you’re dealing with international
development you can create a very, very great impact with a very little input.”
Keith Stephenson - Charities Aid
Foundation (CAF) “Why We Give”
Top Motivators
They give because of their personal values and beliefs, lifestyle, morality, ethics, belief in a specific cause, faith and personal experience. Much
further down the list are determination to leave a positive legacy, and relationships
forged through giving. Family and enjoyment from giving had a middling
response.
Give and Get
Public Media's Listener Focused Fundraising Project (LFFP) called reciprosity "Give and Get." In the hierarchy of reasons to give, this was not the biggest or second biggest reason for giving. The research defined six modes of fund raising messages ranked from the least to the most effective. The report is about 14 years old. It resides at the radiosutton website. The report may be older, but that does not mean the results should be dismissed out of hand. The report published by Charities Aid Foundation reinforces the findings in LFFP.
Frantic: More sound than message. It's noisy (ringing phones, loud or busy music beds under pitches, etc), urgent, and nervous. We think it is high energy, the listeners do not. Very unlike the usual sound of the station. Listeners perceive this mode as highly negative.
Blame & Pleading: Characterized more by sound than message. It includes threats, whining, "poor mouthing," guilt, self-victimization, and weakness (such as a stated lack of control over financial circumstances that require asking listeners for money). Very negative.
Give & Get: Sound and message. It's the sounds of selling, similar to a TV infomercial, with the message "give to get stuff." Usually the "getter" is the listener (sweepstakes, drawings, premiums) but it can also be the station (challenge grant matches). Mostly negative to lightly neutral.
Funding Facts: Sound and message. "How to give" and "Why we need the money" messages, always characterized by a calm, rational, respectful tone. Informative, honest, professional, succinct. Neutral to positive.
Personal Importance Personified: Sound and message. Resonates with our listeners' values, beliefs and interests, always characterized by a calm, rational, respectful tone. Centers on appeals about the heart of our public service, programming. Very positive.
Lighten Up, Public Radio: Sound and message. An intelligent humor mode about taking our fundraising less seriously. Not always involving public radio celebrities, but when they pitch it's in character - in the roles they play on the air. (Tom and Ray Magliozzi are the quintessence of this mode). Highly positive.
WCCC...WNPR's next door neighbor...is being sold to a Christian Broadcaster. You could see WCCC from the newsroom. WCCC's Brat Fest will be missed.
Word was Connecticut Public Broadcasting wanted to buy WCCC, but was unable to pull off the deal.
EMF Broadcasting will be acquiring the station to add it to its Christian AC “K-Love” network. K-Love has over 440 stations and translators nationwide. The audience is estimated to be about 12 million. The primary format focus is Contemporary Christian Music. This represents a new format for the Hartford Market. There is a LPFM (Mom and Pop) serving parts of the market. WCCC will provide full coverage.
First...Congratulations to Alabama Public Radio for its achievement. Their documentary about the "Children's Crusade" in Birmingham in 1963 is considered among New York Festivals' World's Best Radio Programs. Second...the civil war is not over for some in the South. Check out the comments. It still takes courage to report on something that happened over 50 years ago. http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/07/alabama_public_radio_wins_inte.html Third...if you want to hear"Civil Rights Radio", click on the link.
Georgia Public Broadcasting began broadcasting in Atlanta today. Rickey Bevington sent this email last night.
Dear Friends:
Please join me in marking an important day in the history of our great city of Atlanta.
Until 5 o’clock this morning, Atlanta was the only Top 10 media market in the U.S. without a midday public radio news/talk service. Starting today, Georgia Public Broadcasting is now filling this vital market gap on 88.5 FM.
This comes thanks to a new partnership between GPB and Georgia State University. With this collaboration, Atlantans gain access to a rich variety of information programs during the work day while GSU students gain hands-on career experience working in a major television, radio, digital and educational organization. GSU students will also be programming one of GPB’s HD television stations and will continue to program 88.5 FM between the hours of 7 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Also starting today, I became the statewide local host during NPR’s All Things Considered program from 4 to 7 p.m., airing in Atlanta on 88.5 FM and across GPB’s additional 18 radio stations across Georgia. I hope you’ll join me each evening in your car, office or home to enjoy stories from across Georgia produced by our award-winning news team.
Sincerely,
Rickey
Rickey BevingtonSenior Anchor/Correspondent 260 14th Street N.W. Atlanta, GA 30318 Ph: 404-685-2694e-mail: rbevington@GPB.org website: www.gpb.org
About 50 college radio stations are joining in a protest against a deal that is allowing Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) to air their programming during the day on WRAS in Atlanta. The protest is not surprising. Similar protests have been staged in other instances where Public Radio programming was allowed on college stations or when a larger public radio entity buys a college station.
Fighting for Air Time
The deal allows college DJ's to run their own programming between 7p and 5a. DJ's displaced by the deal can be heard on-line. The deal also allows GPB to reach the Atlanta market for the first time. Students will be allowed learning opportunities with GPB as part of the agreement.
The original start date was June Second. It is now June 29th.
In a move that will satisfy classical music fans and the NPR news audience, Nashville Public Radio cemented the deal to buy WRVU. The deal was three years in the making. Approval came in March from the FCC, but was delayed until Vanderbilt Student Communications received the $3.35 million purchase price.
Not Everybody is Happy
College radio advocates have been trying to play defense, though not with much success. Fans of WRVU hired attorneys and petitioned the FCC.
Jennifer Waits, who founded the website “Radio Survivor,” says it’s really a matter of convincing schools they shouldn’t sell.
“It’s still good to stand up for what you believe in,” she says. “People can change their mind.”
Waits and others are now focusing attention on Atlanta, where just this month, Georgia Public Broadcasting announced a deal to partially take over a powerful signal owned by Georgia State.
There was also resistance when the station owned by Rice University was sold to Houston Public Media for $9 million. There was a bold prediction, at the time, that the purchase of KRTU would result in a doubling of listener sensitive in for Houston Public Media. In 2013, Houston Public Media ended up laying off its classical music staff at the end of 2013 instead.
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