Lead in Mugs

An Unsafe Premium
Vermont Public Radio discovered that one of the mugs it offered in the middle of the last decade has high levels of lead. VPR reports they tested all 34 of the mugs produced in the past decade after concerns were raised recently. 11 mugs contained lead. One was found to have unacceptable levels. Members are being notified not to use the mug. The issue is being reported in Foster's Daily Democrat.

What's Next?
Many of public radio's and public TVs mugs come from a couple of sources. Where they are actually manufactured might be an issue. Does this mean public broadcasting (and other non-profits) should get their mugs tested? I have several mugs I got as premiums. I'm drinking out of one right now. It does give me pause.

Fundraising Cases

I spent a couple of hours this morning fundraising with Jack Callahan on WNPR.
We had a few incentives going.

• There was an iPad drawing for today only. 
• We also had some challenge dollars between 7a and 8a.  
• There were a couple of hot membership items. We had Mother's Day Flowers (for a limited time only) and a double walled porcelain travel mug that is very popular. It's a mug with the I Heart Public Radio logo (Also in a limited quantity). 

These things helped drive listeners to the phone.

There is still a need to keep the content fresh to keep the momentum going. Finding fresh case messages can be problematic...at least for me. Closing, on the other hand, is easier.

One way to keep fresh is to relate pitches to the content. As a theme I talked today about how Morning Edition gives content context and background to stories that are often only covered on the surface. I selected stories that I thought might best illustrate the point. I chose one story per pitch to keep it simple.
And, I limited the number of stories chosen. That was because I didn't always have time to talk about the content given the incentives, premiums and closes I had to cover.

The stories I used as examples were...
Working Mom's Challenges
This added much more depth to the heat surrounding the campaign rhetoric about stay at home moms.
(50% of mothers with young children work)
Money and Politics
It's an election year and the amount of money changing hands has a wow factor.
(The rules are clear: Lobbyists use money from their political action committees to get access to lawmakers.)
StoryCorps
A few years back, WNPR brought StoryCorps to Connecticut. I talked about how it helped the station engage with its audience.


Other stories could have worked but, these were the stories I could relate to listeners.


What do you use to create fresh case arguments while fundraising? I think it matters but, perhaps your experience is different. What works for you?