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.
