Behind the Scenes: Fundraising at a Classical Station

This is not going to be a compendium of fundraising ideas for classical stations, so if you’re looking for the foolproof idea that will make your fundraising SING during a recession, sorry.  I wanted to give non-radio types a look at what goes on behind the scenes.

It’s almost impossible for public classical stations to generate “earned income.”  Radio has always been free — like the internet — so you can’t really sell the product, unless you’re satellite radio and force people to buy a special receiver and pay a subscription fee.

Many stations raise half of their income through on-air fundraising and the other half through underwriting (ad sales).  Most public stations have “members” who give annually or give a fixed amount and receive some benefits, such as program guides, invitations to social events, and discounts on concert tickets, but you really don’t have to become a member to listen.  Some stations try to raise money by producing concerts, a little bit of earned income.

The Bad and the Good

I used to complain about how horrible it was to have to go on the air and beg for bucks, but my program director always responded, “yes, but it works!”  And indeed it does.  At a station with 70,000 weekly cume (listeners), we would raise $200,000 in a week.

Everybody hates to listen to fundraising spiels.  So why do people call in?  Why don’t they just turn off the radio and come back a week later?  I think it’s for the same reason we elected Barack Obama as president — a sense of shared ownership. Their attitude is that you’ve been giving something valuable to them for free all year, and now they have a chance to give back.

It’s the most amazing thing to be on the air during a fund drive.  People will call in and talk to you as though they know you.  We always say that people listen in groups of one, and it’s especially true at fundraising time.  The people who call in really are friends.  They listen to you in their bedrooms, in their cars, at their desks.  You’re the voice in their heads, and they really get attached to you.

Nuts and Bolts

Fundraising time is exhausting but fun at a station.  There’s always FOOD.  Have to keep those volunteers fed and happy. There’s cameraderie among the volunteers and the on-air folks.

It takes weeks of planning to run a fund drive.  We program shorter pieces to allow time for “pitching.” The station management has to create special “pitch” books, with lists of do’s and dont’s and ideas for effective pitches.  Some stations take pre-produced fundraising segments from NPR or other producers, and some produce their own.

Coordinated Fundraising Weeks

When I was at NPR, we created at least a dozen special features for stations to use during “coordinated fundraising weeks.”  We collected our most fascinating interviews for the features.  Coordinated fundraising is a week each in spring and fall, when many stations do their pledge drives simultaneously.

NPR runs two separate channels of programming during coordinated fundraising weeks, but it’s all for news, not classical music.  One is a pitch channel that stations can tune into whenever they want, that has shorter news segments and built-in pitch breaks, some national, and some empty or with music beds for local stations to add their own pitching.  At the same time, NPR runs a normal programming channel for stations that either aren’t fundraising or want to do their own.  NPR doesn’t pitch for itself.  It pitches only for the member stations — an important point!

Making the Pitch

The actual pitching is hard.  You have to think up things to say without being preachy, without putting a guilt trip on anyone, without blathering inanely.  You have to try to inspire.  Just imagine — what would YOU say?  You have to be direct and ask for money.  I don’t know too many people who enjoy that.  And all of us who’ve done pitching have made every mistake in the book.  It’s an art.  A frustrating art.

The money comes in as pledges, sometimes online or on credit cards.  Then the station has to follow up on the pledges and try to collect the actual cash.  Some stations are doing more online fundraising.  Some are trying shorter fund drives, like a single day or a promise to quit early, as soon as they reach their goal.

All are knocking themselves out to convince you to support them, and if you enjoy listening to public radio, I hope you will.  It’s the only way they can stay on the air.  The last time I heard, only about 10% of listeners donate to their stations.