Hawaii Public Radio

Please, Don’t Donate To Us

by

I got a little reminder about the need to shepherd your resources and occasionally refocus yourself on your core business last week when I did my semi-annual stint as an on air guest for the public radio stations.

I am really proud of them because not only have they raised enough money to erect transmitters in all but one major population center in the state, they have done so while reducing the number of days of their appeal from 10 to 8. I think they were inspired to shorten the fund drive by the fact they have generally reached their goals a day or so early the last few years.

Every time I go on, I usually bring some tickets to a show to give away as a thank you gift. I had suggested some appropriate shows when we were making the initial arrangements and was told it wasn’t necessary to offer tickets because they were de-emphasizing gifts in return for donations this year.

I know the stations has been using the message that the premium was the programming rather than the thank you gift for a number of years now. Actually, most public radio stations I have listened to take that approach. The idea is that you are giving so that you can continue to enjoy programming throughout the year, not so you can get a nifty t-shirt.

Thinking they had adopted a purist approach to the programming is the premium philosophy, I was eager to see how successful they might be. Turns out, they aren’t abandoning thank you gifts altogether, just scaling back a great degree.

I was told that because they have such a small staff to help with the gift fulfillment operations, they decided to stop soliciting gifts to give away because it requires so much tracking of where items have come from, if the stations have received the item or if there is a certificate to be exchanged for the item.

If you have ever tried to run an auction fundraiser yourself, you know what can be involved in this sort of activity.

Instead, they have elected to focus more on station branded shirts and tote bags and CD/DVDs associated with local and national radio shows. This way they had a standard group of items that could be processed in the same manner. The gifts provided by the local community tended to be a limited number of higher ticket items like celebrity chef dinners and spa weekends that required $500+ donations.

This new approach for the fund drive is a little new to everyone I guess. The on-air host during one of my segments asked me what goodies I had brought causing one of the coordinators to gesticulate madly indicating that I didn’t have anything. I covered by talking about the season brochures I had brought to help remind me about dates and times.

We often talk about how chasing grant money for programs and services outside your mission and capabilities can be detrimental to your organization. Sometimes you are also in a position where it is better to say no and refuse the gifts of well meaning people if doing so will strain your resources.

It can be very difficult to say no to a heart-felt offering. Many charities which help the poor and dispossessed would rather receive donations of cash rather than food and clothing because the latter requires items to be inspected, evaluated, sanitized and often discarded, all of which diverts staff time and energy.

Groups can be afraid of the ill-will they might generate by appearing ungrateful and refusing the donations and feel obligated to accept. However, there are some alternatives according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy article recently reprinted on Guide Star. Some of the options include redirecting people to groups who will take the donation, a move that can help bolster the creditability of your organization.

Of course, that probably won’t satisfy the ardent long time supporter that wants their gesture to benefit your organization. The Chronicle of Philanthropy article mentions that many charities have disaster plans which outline how they will deal with the out pouring of generosity that may result from a disaster. These plans include responses to donations they are not willing or able to accept.

It may be worthwhile to develop a similar plan to respond to the undesired generosity of a strong supporter so you are prepared for that situation as well.

Info You Can Use: Cell Phone Donations

by

If you have been excited by the prospect of using cell phones as a mode of donation after hearing of the success in raising funds for Haiti, you may want to do some research and calculations. The cell phone and credit card companies have gone out of their way to make it easy to donate for Haiti relief and waived most of the ancillary costs.

You on the other hand, probably won’t be so lucky.

Hawaii Public Radio had a short piece covering a meeting sponsored by a local foundation on the subject of cell phone donations this week. (link downloads mp3 file. This link if first doesn’t work. Look for raising funds..social media) A representative from a cell phone company talked about the costs to set something like this up- $500 set up fee, $400 monthly fee and a a .35 per transaction fee.

With costs like that, it would likely only be worth your while if you had a large group of people already giving that you wanted to provide an alternative mode for donating.

Now that said, I can easily see the costs coming down as those for whom it makes sense use the service. Once all those involved with the transactions create more efficient processes, the service may become more affordable. Someone is likely to invent an app for the iPhone or Facebook which will facilitate the whole exchange and two years from now it will be a $2 billion business in $25 average increments.

Another observation that is made in the story related to social media was in regard to who one puts in charge of coordinating it. One speaker cautioned against putting the youngest person in the office in charge of social media just because they understand the software the best of anyone. “They know the tools, but they don’t understand the sophistication of your message and they don’t always understand the intangible qualities…of how you actually communicate with people out there.”

I have a suspicion this is something a lot of people have already thought to themselves but were afraid to say it for fear of showing just how out of touch with social media and its great power they are. It just takes a visit to sites like Failbooking.com to see some pretty poor choices when using Facebook. Though to be fair, I sort of question the wisdom of this water safety ad by Royal Life Saving Society Australia.

Fun on the Fund Drive

by

I was a guest on my local public radio station’s fund drive today. It was my second year, but as always I had a blast. I am sure it isn’t the same experience for everyone, but the time just flew by. I was ready to go another hour but they already had someone else lined up.

As a leader of a non-profit organization, these fund drives seem like such a win-win for both organizations. I was there offering tickets as premiums for membership and in return, I received the opportunity to raise awareness about my organization. I actually tried to be cognizant of how much I talked about us but the hosts kept feeding me lines opening new avenues of conversation.

I saw the whole experience as a game to see how I could turn something into a plug to become a member. The host commented on how adventurous and daring our programming was. Thanked her and talked a little bit about our philosophy and came back around and mentioned something to the effect of how supporters of the station were likewise adventurous and bold in that they were eager to consume programming that dealt with situations outside their daily experience.

I had been worried I would run out of things to say so I had prepared some notes in advance of my arrival making a connection between the tickets we were offering and the station. (Lead singer of a group voted among the distinctive voices of her country-the station is a distinctive voice in the community with few such alternatives–you can be a distinctive voice by declaring your support of the station.)

It turned out I need not have been so concerned. The program I was guesting on had fewer opportunities for pledge solicitations than the one I was on last year. I left the remaining tickets for the station to in future segments and then fed the host my notes so she could use them in future segments. No need for my ideas to go to waste, after all. (I have had interactions with her before so it the situation wasn’t akin to a waiter pitching his ideas to a film director.)

So I know this entry has mostly been about how cool and clever I am. I am, however, too lazy to make these same suggestions in a third person voice. “One should endeavor to be a gracious guest by preparing remarks that emphasize the desirability of becoming a member.”

Besides, I know that if I say I had fun playing word games, most of you will figure you are cleverer than me, (you aren’t by the way), and can do a much better job promoting your organization and membership to your public radio station and will help your local station in the (futile) attempt to do just that.

But in all seriousness, while I was sitting there waiting to go on air again, I starting thinking how much I wished there were other forums where the general public would direct their attention to hear arts people talk enthusiastically. There was an entirely different energy to our conversation than I have experienced at Q&As and performance talks. It might have just been the setting. Talking to each other without the immediate awareness of an audience likely changes the dynamics. If I could be sure I could translate at least some degree of the experience to our stage, I might consider asking the woman who hosted our segment to act as an interviewer for a show discussion.

Something for me to ponder.

Oh and if the idealism of helping out another non-profit in your community or playing clever word games isn’t motivation to go on a fund drive, how about economics. We saw a surge in ticket sales while I was on the air. One guy apparently drove to the theatre and began banging on my office door because he was afraid we would be sold out.

If The Postman Rings And There Is No One To Sign For The Check..

by

Hawaii Public Radio reported last week that the state’s governor had sent layoff notices to 10 employees of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, including Executive Director, Ronald Yamakawa. “That leaves only the Art in Public Places staff, one account clerk, and three federally funded positions to fulfill agency functions.”

The public radio story may be heard here. Given that the foundation’s state funding had already been cut, the lack of an entity to receive and administer federal funding from the NEA, especially ARRA stimulus funds, is causing great consternation in the state arts community. Even when there isn’t a formal federal stimulus plan, federal funds help secure other support.

I have lived in and read about enough state budget crises to know that threats to the state arts councils are often part of a larger political fight. (NJ’s willingness to go broke rather than fund the arts, for example.) I confess I was suspicious when a search of the local daily newspapers didn’t turn up any mention of this story. I wondered if the story was specifically aimed at the public radio audience which tends to have more political influence than many other demographics. The sad truth is that the omission may just be reflective of the state of newspaper priorities and resources.

Whether it is a political ploy or in earnest, the truth will be known on November 13 when all 1,100 layoffs the governor ordered become effective.