On Air Pledge Drive In Perspective

Over 2,000 Pledges! 

So Disappointing.

I was listening to the last day of my public radio station's pledge drive. The talent was thanking just over 2,000 contributors. That seems pretty exciting...right?

Not really.

A lot of hard work went into garnering pledges from less than 1% of their audience over a nearly two week span. If you look at the success of this drive based on the core audience...the response came from about 2% of the core audience. I think it is safe to assume the drives are grinding up and chasing away the audience.

It was noted in the research that came out of Audience '98 that on air drives were akin to trimming your toenails with a shotgun. I've always thought how much better life would be for the staff and the audience if all those calls would come during a five day span...or less.  

Looking for a Better Way

A look at audience trends, programming and the impact of the programming can help plan and forecast the effectiveness of fundraising efforts. If all is okay with the audience...A lot more leverage...please.