Meeting Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger Opened My Eyes

I got the chance to meet Pete Seeger. I didn't know it at the time but, the meeting was life changing. The changes were so gradual I didn't really think about them until Pete's passing last week.

It was the mid 60's. I was in high school. The people I hung with were musician wanna be's. We all played. I had taught myself some chords and a couple of lead riffs on guitar. I sang some tunes too. At the time there was a blending of folk and and rock mixed withe the British invasion. I think we all had dreams of making it big. Never mind the talent level, we had a lot of fun.

Appealing to Youthful Rebellion

I got a call from Ron Cope one afternoon. He said, "Pete Seeger is going to be at the Oriental tomorrow night." "Do you want to go?" Without hesitation I said, "Yes." Ron then said, "You know, he's a communist?"
The politics in our high school was Republican and Conservative. The thought of going to see a communist perform seemed slightly rebellious. We went over slight objections from our parents. I found out later that Seeger had quit the communist party about 1950 over objections of the abuses of Stalin's regime.

Pete played and told stories. He talked about social justice and causes. The songs he sang were mostly from the civil rights movement. There were also songs from the labor movement and some adaptations of music from around the world.  His two hour performance was intense and drew me in. It was just Pete singing and accompanying himself on guitar or banjo.

The Experience was Personal

After the concert we walked backstage and took the stairs to his dressing room...uninvited. (try that today) He looked tired but, he was gracious and smiled at us when we asked about his twelve string and his banjo playing style. He spent about ten minutes talking with us. Nobody else came up. The moment was magic.

After the concert I bought one of his albums, "We Shall Overcome."  I played that album until the grooves wore out.

New Perspectives

His music opened my mind to new ways of thinking about issues. It didn't make me a radical...more of a progressive. Progressive in the sense of creating a level playing field as opposed to creating barriers. The level playing field, or equal opportunities should be in place in order for all of us to be allowed to reach our full potential. The politics aren't as important as the desire to look at issues and ideas in different ways...To explore and understand the perspectives of others. Social justice became a strong theme in my life. The music...the event...changed my life.

That sense of caring about community brought me to Public Radio and to the FOCUS Center for Autism. Thanks, Pete!

Recurring Fundraising Dream

There was a time when I was responsible for the fund drives at WNPR. That continued even after Connecticut Public Broadcasting united donor development into one department. The fund raiser became a partnership...a collaboration.

Dreaming about Fund Drives
Just before every drive I had a recurring dream. In that dream nobody called. Since I was also responsible for content, the dream also meant that my choices for programming had no appeal to the audience. The axiom of "Significant Programming for a Significant Audience" proved false. The implications of the dream was that the programming was not significant and the audience it generated was not interested in voluntarily supporting the programming. The dream never came true. I worked with some talented content people who worked hard at programming that appealed to a significant audience.

There were ways of measuring what we were doing that helped predict what areas of our scheduled would be successful during the fund drive and what areas would be more difficult. I wrote a couple of articles with the help of the folks at Audience Research Analysis for Audience 98. You can read about it. Public Service Economics and Connecticut Public Radio By The Numbers. It's public radio geek. When I presented this stuff to upper management and the board, their eyes glazed over. They didn't get it. Because of the time put into the research, because we did our homework trying to understand how the audience used the content, the bad dream never came true.

That Same Old Feeling
I'm experiencing some of the same foreboding. We're about to launch an appeal for donations for the FOCUS Center for Autism. I'm working for them as Development and Marketing Coordinator. The audience is much smaller but, the content is significant and meaningful. FOCUS Center for Autism became a non-profit organization in 2000 under the name of FOCUS Alternative Learning Center. What began in 1996 as an after-school program and a camp in the summers for children and adolescents on the Autism Spectrum is now an intensive and growing clinical continuum of care. In 2009 we expanded our Extended Day Treatment Program to include the morning hours and to offer a Clinical Education Program that targets children who are having a difficult experience in their traditional school system. This program coupled with our After School Program offers a comprehensive clinical model that promotes social, emotional and academic growth. The FOCUS Extended Day Treatment Program has developed into a well respected community-based model of treatment that has now served over 500 children and families.

The challenge is getting the word out to a much smaller audience.
 

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.