Political Leanings and Media

You are who you listen to

The Pew Research Journalism Project released a report about the media habits of liberals and conservatives. There is no middle ground.

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....

Wealthy Donors' Frustration

Gifts Are Not Making a Difference

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.

Stories Can Move Us

Generosity      

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.

To find out more and see some pictures...go to Homeless Man Who Couldn't Care For His Dogs Finds Perfect Animal Lover To Give Them Proper TLC

Now, if only David's outcome can be just as good... 

Why We Give - Listener Participation

Listen and Engage

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.

The Wealthy Give Less

Middle and Low Income People Give More

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.  

As Wealthy Give Smaller Share of Income to Charity, Middle Class Digs Deeper

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?

Why We Give: Generosity and Public Radio

It's Not About the Mug

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.