Preparing for the Pitch

I've volunteered to help my local public radio station during their current membership campaign. It's a station I used to manage.

Because I was not a part of the pre-drive preparations, I'm spending a little time preparing. I did some listening to get a sense of what they are focusing on during this drive. It is time well spent. I want to be as engaging and and efficient with my time on-air as possible.

The pitch that's easiest for me is the close. I can recite funding facts. I'm also am pretty good with ease of pledging. I can also talk about how listeners can select their own level while suggesting one for them. Notice that I did not include premiums. Those help establish a level and may help trigger the pledge.

It's the case...the reminder of what public radio offers that is so unique and valuable...that takes a lot more thought. The case is more about why listeners have come to value public radio.

One place I start is the Core Values of Public Radio. That's where I can find bullet points about the value of the service. The Vocabulary of Qualities is my starting point. There's a lot more about the core values of public radio at the PRPD site, Station Resource Group, Walrus Research and the Development Exchange.

Public Radio's content is what drives listening and listener loyalty. Listener loyalty is what drives membership.

Qualities of Mind/Intellect
Love of lifelong learning
Substance
Expand understanding
Connect with the world
On the lookout for unique/excellent content
Curiosity: Asking why not just what
Trust, Credibility, Accuracy, Honesty
Non-manipulative
Non-sensational/No hype
Respect for listener
Purpose
Qualities of the Heart/Spirit
Humor
Idealism
Inspired about public life
Civility/Civil Discourse
Content holds center stage
Guest is the star
Qualities of Craft/Use of the Medium
Uniquely human voice
Conversational
Authentic
Intimate
Deliberate/thoughtful pace
Attention to detail

Pledge Drive-Free Stream to Donors - The Atlantic

Finally, A Public Radio Station Offers a Pledge Drive-Free Stream to Donors - The Atlantic

Tired of the pledge drive? Already made your pledge. KQED is offering a pledge free alternative for those who have already pledged.

This fee-based listening option should pay for the additional band-width required. That is, if enough members are willing to pay for the service.  According to the article, the limited listening window is available for $45 above and beyond the membership fee. The limitation is for the current drive only.

Public Radio Pledge Humor and Alec Baldwin

Public Radio Pledge Drives. Funny?
They're more like a the movie Ground Hog Day...or a root canal that never ends. (Root canals actually do end, it just seems like they go on forever.) Listeners perceive fundraising to be painful. PPM data demonstrates about half of the audience tunes away during the drive. This can make raising money on-air difficult.

Occasionally, there is something funny during a drive. The latest group of spots creating buzz for the system is a set of five featuring Alec Baldwin.  (KPLU has posted the spots on their website). Baldwin first made fun of public radio on Saturday Night Live. Many of my collegues were afraid the humor was dragging down the image of public radio. The bit made me laugh. We even had a show on our air that was a little like the food show being parodied.

The effectiveness of humor during pledge (if done right) should not be a surprise. Think about some of the spots created by Tom and Ray - Wait, Wait - Garrison Keillor - This American Life.

The Listener Focussed Fundraising Project that came out of Audience 98 examined various modes that appealed to listeners and didn't appeal to listeners during a drive.

Six Modes of Fundraising Messages Identified by Listener Focused Fundraising
Project. The modes line up (from those perceived by listeners as most likely "tune-outs" to most likely "stay tuned") as:

Frantic: More sound than message. It's noisy (ringing phones, loud or
busy music beds under pitches, etc), urgent, and nervous. We think it is
high energy, the listeners do not. Very unlike the usual sound of the station.
Listeners perceive this mode as highly negative.

Blame & Pleading: Characterized more by sound than message. It
includes threats, whining, "poor mouthing," guilt, self-victimization, and
weakness (such as a stated lack of control over financial circumstances that
require asking listeners for money). Very negative.

Give & Get: Sound and message. It's the sounds of selling, similar to a TV
infomercial, with the message "give to get stuff." Usually the "getter" is the
listener (sweepstakes, drawings, premiums) but it can also be the station
(challenge grant matches). Mostly negative to lightly neutral.

Funding Facts: Sound and message. "How to give" and "Why we need the
money" messages, always characterized by a calm, rational, respectful
tone. Informative, honest, professional, succinct. Neutral to positive.

Personal Importance Personified: Sound and message. Resonates with
our listeners' values, beliefs and interests, always characterized by a calm,
rational, respectful tone. Centers on appeals about the heart of our public
service, programming. Very positive.

Lighten Up, Public Radio: Sound and message. An intelligent humor
mode about taking our fundraising less seriously. Not always involving
public radio celebrities, but when they pitch it's in character - in the roles
they play on the air. (Tom and Ray Magliozzi are the quintessence of this
mode). Highly positive.

People in the system always seem surprised when well-crafted humor works. Obviously, you cannot use humor all the time. The limited number of well-crafted spots will burn out rapidly. But spots, like the five produced at WNYC featuring Alec Baldwin, can help lighten up the drive.  Obviously, you cannot use humor all the time. The limited number of well-crafted spots will burn out rapidly. Humor might not always be appropriate, especially when coming out of heavier news items featured during public radio's news programming.

Now that I've been on the outside for a while I find myself thinking, "Please, stop being so earnest all the time."  Actually the words I use are more blunt than that, but I want to hired again someday.