Why People Give

Listening to my local public radio station make appeals for funding on-air leads me to question again: 

Why Do People Give?

The local talent is telling me all about mugs, t-shirts and socks. I can even get flowers to send to a loved one.

But...is that the reason I would want to give them money? No, not really. 

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I've become jaded because of my 31 years sitting in that chair trying to motivate people to make that phone call. 

I think it's all about the listener and why they come to the station for their news and information. The listener is first. I'm not sure public TV can raise money that way. Fundraising around regular programming is slow going. So they produce specials that have little to do with their mission. They focus on cassettes, DVD's and CD's. They help the presenter hawk his or her products. For the most part it doesn't work that way for public radio.

I went to an out side source to find out what motivates people to give. I went to the Network for Good. This is what they came up with.

1. Donors come to your nonprofit because they believe in your mission.
2. Donating to charity feels good.
3. For many donors, charitable giving is a family tradition.
4. Donating is an emotional act, and people connect more to personal stories than statistics or broad statements. 
5. Religion - Every major religion teaches good will, caring for others, and charitable giving.
6. The power of social media combined with the ease of online giving has contributed to the rise in popularity of peer-to-peer giving. The more people see their peers involved in a cause, the more likely they are to participate and donate. 
7. Tax benefits - Nonprofits are watching how the standard deduction increase and elimination of personal exemptions will affect charitable giving.

People stop giving when they stop believing in you.

I don't see thank you gifts or premiums anywhere in there. Why would you lead off your pitch with socks or a t-shirt?. For that matter, why would you lead off with a hand-ringing appeal about what you need?

It's not about you. It's about your audience. Change your perspective. It will change your approach.   

A little thought before opening the mic will go a long way. 

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.