Getting to the point

Encouraging Signs

About halfway through my local NPR station's fundraiser, they shifted message points. They started talking about local coverage. They've done this before, but this time the message was much more that lip service. The messages focused on the type of coverage and the quality of the coverage, and how that coverage gives the broader perspective of events globally. The message was more about the unique value proposition of what they offer rather than, "We have local news!" The message made the fundrive easier for me to listen to.

They still mention the premiums, but the point of the drive is so much more than sox and mugs and wreaths. For a long time, this station relied heavily on premiums, but you gotta ask yourself, is that really why people listen? IMHO...it's the wrong path. It was chosen long ago by Public Television. Public TV is at a point, now, where they cannot raise funds around regular programming. Their fundrives are about pitching a product.

There's a lot at stake.

I was reading an article by Jim Wallis, "THE TRUTH QUESTION: HOW TO SEEK TRUTH WHEN THE PRESIDENT NORMALIZES LIES." Wallis points out that the president has lied over 13,000 times in 1,000 days. That's over 13 lies a day. His tactic is a common tactic.

AUTOCRATS AND STRONGMEN ALL OVER THE WORLD ATTACK THE FREE PRESS AND THE IDEA OF OBJECTIVE TRUTH BECAUSE THEY WANT YOU ONLY TO BE ABLE TO LISTEN TO THEIR TRUTH. (Sojourners)

The free press still exists, but it is under constant attack. Even here, where a free press is supposed to be guaranteed by The Constitution. There is no guarantee that it will be there for us without vigilance and active support. 

BTW- That's a call to action.

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. 

Contributions to Public Radio and TV intersect

As contributions to public radio continue to increase...the contributions to public television continue to decline.

This trend has everything to do with programming. The reasons for the sad decline in programming can be attributed to the splintering of the marketplace but, public radio is feeling the same pressures. Public TV has done, at least in part, this to itself.

Those of us who have been around the system for a while remember the research put out by Audience Research Analysis called the Stairway to Given.

ARA called it the Stairway to Given
1.      Aware of the services/a user of the service.
2.      The user relies on the service.
3.      The content or service must be personally important.                    

Personal importance and sense of community. This is the idea that the content and                     the services are the ties that bind together people with certain shared values.  

4.      Funding Beliefs – Users must believe their support is crucial. They must understand that funding from other sources is only a piece of the fiscal puzzle. Individual support is the most reliable source of income.  

5.       Household income is a contributing factor in whether someone will give, but that it is not nearly as significant as the other steps of The Stairway to Given. People give because they rely on the service, find it personally important and believe their contributions are truly needed.

It starts with the content. There's a direct correlation between the loyalty of the audience and its willingness to contribute. PTV seems to have lost that along the way. Each time I stumble across another showing of Celtic Woman or another broadcast of the Moody Blues, I've wondered if others have found this to be as far off mission as I do. Do these fundraisers really appeal to the core audience? And, if PTV can't fundraise around core programming, what does that say? The answer always seems to be more fundraising!

There's a really good graphic published in Current.Org that shows this trend. The statistics are provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Fundraising - Do we talk about ourselves or the donor?

Focusing on Donors, Not the Charity, in Your Appeals

Check out this podcast from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. So much of what I hear and read...especially on public radio and television...is all about "we need." "Another big pitch is, "We're great! Support us!" There's also an addiction to the premium. There's a fear nobody will give unless we're immersed in the give and get. I'm hearing this on both radio and TV.

We can go beyond fundraising that annoys and drives listener's and viewers away? Public radio loses half its audience as soon as it opens its mikes during a fund drive. Public Television can't raise money around its core programs. Is it the programming creating the problem for Public TV? 
When something compelling hits the air like Downton Abbey, the funds flow in. 

Answer this, "What are the positive outcomes from the listener's or viewer's point of view?" 

A thank you gift or a pair of tickets is not a positive outcome. It is an inducement.

The Language of News Changing for Latinos

A Growing Share of Latinos Get Their News in English

According to a report published by Pew Research in July, "a growing share of Latino adults are consuming news in English from television, print, radio and Internet outlets, and a declining share are doing so in Spanish." The report goes on to say television is the most likely place Latinos get their news followed by radio, Internet and print.

Relevance Is Important

The challenge for public radio and public television is relevance. Latinos are still looking for news in both languages but, they want coverage of issues that relate to their experience and is relevant to their daily lives. Survey results show that Latino news consumers still perceive news from Spanish language sources to be more relevant to their experience. One solution would be to hire more reporters with Hispanic heritage.

WNET Makes Fun Of Commercial TV

A new ad campaign celebrating the 50th anniversary of the public television station makes fun of Reality TV. A series of five posters are appearing on the New York Subways. (see posters here) The posters feature fictitious shows like, "Bayou Eskimos" and "Married to a Mime: She's Got Plenty to Say."



Some funny ideas but, is this humor at the expense of others. Is it ever wise to belittle the competition?  We did some of this in my early years with public radio. Then it dawned on us that belittling others was not a core value of our listeners. Instead we needed to focus on our core and the core values of our listeners. We needed to focus on the unique value of our content. The posters get at that after snarky comments. "The fact that you thought this was a real show says a lot about the state of TV. Support quality programming. Join us at thriteen.org."

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.

Newsweek Goes digital in 2013 - Poynter

Newsweek to reduce staff, eliminate print edition as it goes digital only in 2013 | Poynter.

Newsweek says to has reached a tipping point. Circulation has dropped dramatically in the past few years. They've lost 51% of their readers since 2007.  Some of the content will be available on the Daily Beast. The digital edition will be a subscription service.

As public radio and television evolves with more of its content available digitally on-line, will that mean the demise of broadcast services and big layoffs like at Newsweek? Public radio is still doing very well. There a signs of stress brought on by economic pressure. Is the situation at Delmarva Public Radio (DPR) only the tip of the iceberg? Salisbury University and the SU foundation are looking for solutions to the station's funding dilemma. According to Public Radio Capital, the consulting service hired to look into the viability of DPR, outside sources are siphoning away audience. This is making it very difficult for the station to be sustainable. In fact, they've been running deficits for 17 out of the last 21 years.

Will digital delivery systems replace broadcast? What will be the effect on local broadcast operations?

WKAR Cuts Staff

Facing a deficit in the neighborhood of $800,000, WKAR lays off staff. Among those is WKAR reporter Rob South.

Click here for more.

KCSM Up For Sale

San Mateo's Public TV station is up for sale according to an article in MercuryNews.com.  The San Mateo County Community College District board Wednesday night directed staff to prepare putting KCSM on the market. The station is currently running an $800,000 deficit. KCSM-FM, the Bay Area's 24 hour jazz station is not up for sale at this time.
The sale of the TV station was averted in 2010. But, state budget cuts for San Mateo Community College make the sale seem unavoidable this time.

Brownback Puts Public Broadcasting on Notice

Kansas governor Sam Brownback spared public broadcasting in the current budget by not using his veto power. He told them to be ready for cuts next year. Approved funds were recently vetoed by Virginia's governor,  Bob McDonnell. You can read more in The Republic of Columbus, Indiana. Cutting the funding would save about $1.5 million out of a $13.8 billion budget.

In other public broadcasting news...WNET has reached an agreement to run the public television station of the New Jersey Network. The fate of NJN's current employees is not known. "Talks concerning the future of New Jersey’s radio assets and broadcasting operation are continuing," According to treasury spokesman Bill Quinn "No agreement has been finalized." There's more at nj.com.

Another Florida PBS Station May Go Dark

A $250,000 funding cut from Daytona State College puts WDSC 15 at risk. The station serves the Daytona area and Central Florida including part of the area that was served by Orlando's WMFE. WMFE is being sold to a faith based organization.


According to the article in News Journal, "Administrators said the college has already cut the $250,000 it costs for the PBS programs for the next fiscal year and is also struggling to pay $1.5 million overall to run the WDSC 15 station, which includes production costs and other programming."


The college, the station and its board are looking for ways to save PBS for Central Florida. Once idea is an alliance with other Public TV stations - "a Central Florida Broadcast Partnership to "preserve public broadcasting in Central Florida." GM Bob Williams says, "if the board agrees, everything will need to be in place before July 1."


I seems clear that these PTV stations are not self-sustaining through their program offerings. Member support is not enough to keep them on the air. The funding puzzle for these stations is much more complex.

MPBN Funding Set For Public Hearing

MPBN Funding Set For Public Hearing - Portland News Story - WMTW Portland

If you look at the comments at the bottom of this article, you get an idea of what perceptions are like among certain sectors of our society.

Maine Public Broadcasting Network Officials say the $2 million in cuts represents about 20% of their operating budget.

I've experienced those kind of cuts. Local programming goes dark and jobs are lost.

The hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the State House.

Demise of WMFE

A few things stand out here.

• The warnings about the business model for public TV being broken has been out there for quite some time. 
• The selling price of $5 million seems very low. 
• The comments. 
• http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/04/wmfe-sale-dallas-religious-broadcaster-is-the-buyer.html

I was involved in focus groups for public radio. One of the questions asked among those who were loyal listeners of public radio was, "would you miss it if it went away." For WMFE and public TV in Orlando, we're about to find out.

I'm interested in your thoughts.

Kan. gov. saves money for public broadcasting - KHGI-TV/KWNB-TV/KHGI-CA-Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings, Lincoln

Kan. gov. saves money for public broadcasting - KHGI-TV/KWNB-TV/KHGI-CA-Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings, Lincoln

Public Broadcasting in Kansas gets a reprieve. With just weeks left to the end of the fiscal year, the cuts would have been felt deeply by public broadcasters in Kansas. The cuts would have been deepest in rural areas. Local programming, the programming with the potential for the deepest impact on the local community, was on the line.

KCSM TV Closer to Being Sold

It's looking more likely that the public television station in San Mateo will be sold by the Community College there. Recent cuts and fundraisers will not be able to offset the station's deficit according to an article posted by MercuryNews.com and originally published in the San Mateo County Times by Neil Gonzales. Among the cuts was the station's membership with PBS which meant it could no longer air staples like NOVA, Frontline and Masterpiece Theater/Mystery. KCSM was hoping to raise $1 million in donations, but have only raised $30,000 so far. They were also hoping to raise funds by leasing digital spectrum and airtime. That plan has also fallen short.

The San Mateo County Community College District board gave Marilyn Lawrence until February 24th to come up with a plan to eliminate a $1million, deficit.

You can read more at MercuryNews.com.

http://www.mercurynews.com/tv/ci_14289619?nclick_check=1

Public TV in Bay Area In Trouble

KCSM's future depends on a $1 million fundraising goal by January 1. So far the station has raised $6000. If the independent PTV station owned by San Mateo County Community College District fails to raise $1 million, they say they will need to sell the station. The article in the Oakland Tribune reports that there are no plans to sell the radio station. The article says, "Compared with its televised counterpart, the radio station is faring a tad better financially, especially after a fundraiser during the summer for KCSM Jazz 91.The fundraiser for the only station in the Bay Area with a 24-hour jazz format netted nearly $14,000." Is that a typo? The amount seems very low.

You can Help. The article offered a link if you would like to contribute.
http://kcsm.org/interact/savetv/

WGBH bringing TV shows to radio

WGBH-FM becomes Boston's next public radio news and information station. They'll begin as Boston's third service behind WBUR and WBZ. WGBH plans to sprinkle their schedule with made for TV fair from WGBH-TV including the NewsHour. In an article published in the Boston Globe WGBH spokesperson Jeanne Hopkins explains, “We want to do something that is additive, that complements what is already in town and do it in another way.’’ WGBH talks about adapting this programming for radio, but does not talk about the disparity in age cohorts. Is this meant to drive new audiences to WGBH-TV or grow the audience for WGBH-FM?

Cher to Donate Portion of Tickets Sales to Nevada Public Radio

It would be intersting to find out if Cher is actually actively fundraising or if KNPR bought the house and then priced the tickets to include a membership. Public TV does this with concerts featuring groups like the Moody Blues and artists like Yanni. At times the price of the ticket will include a meet and greet with the star. It would also be intersting to find out what the classical audience thinks about this benefit. It would seem Cher is somewhat outside the core values of the classical music audience. Still...it's a good idea and may generate some new memberships.
Cher at The Colosseum

Al Franken Draws US From Memory

A video from Minnesota Public Radio shows Al Franken drawing a map of the U.S. from memory. I’m guessing it did not cost MPR thousands of dollars to shoot edit and post this. It might cost that much if public TV were to produce it.