Spring Fundraising – Guilt, Dread, oh yeah, and Gratitude

It’s that time for many stations.  Spring fundraising time.  There’s a tongue-in-cheek, somewhat uncomfortable op-ed on Chron.com from the Houston Chronicle.  History Professor and KUHF listener Robert Zaretsky writes about his dread of fundraising and guilt for not donating regularly.

I confess a sense of guilt plays a role in my reaction. Though I regularly listen to KUHF, I have been an irregular member. Like the rest of us, I suspect, I have a number of strategies for dealing with this form of guilt. There is the “that will show ’em” gambit, invoked when I never hear back on my offer to appear on “Front Row” to talk about my daughter’s submission to her first grade poetry contest. And the “not that again” protocol, set into motion when I hear once again one of Bach’s Brandenburg concertos. (Of course, this defense also applies to incidental ballet music to obscure operas, John Williams‘ film scores and anything involving Garrison Keillor.) Finally, there is the “moral hazard” defense: by not sending in a check, I signal my refusal to be complicit in the station’s conviction that I really need to know the Hoboken numbers to Haydn’s works.

I’m pretty sure that withholding your donation won’t improve the programming.

One of  his justifications, other than not liking the playlist (although how would he know, if he weren’t listening?), is that stations play underwriting that sounds just like ads.  That’s hyperbole.  In reality, underwriting on a public station is generally less than two minutes per hour.  On a commercial station you can expect 13 minutes of ads per hour.  BIG difference.  And underwriting doesn’t allow screaming or jingles.

Here’s the rub, though. When I listen to commercial radio, a contract of sorts is implied: I can choose to listen to the ads or I can switch stations. …  As with commercial radio, I can either switch stations or listen to the interminable list of KUHF underwriters. Of course, there is no moral obligation to use the services of these underwriters. But there seems to be an implicit obligation for the listener to join their ranks. Those of us who don’t, yet continue to listen (and mutter when we hear yet another Brandenburg) are, well, freeloaders.

Public radio is a funny animal.  On average, 10% of listeners donate to the station they listen to;  the other 90% listen for free.

I remember once saying in a pitch break that donating to your station was one way you could “vote” for the shows you like.  My boss jumped on me for saying that.  He said it’s not a transaction; we don’t provide radio in exchange for donations.  Instead, it’s a public service we provide and the public is invited to participate and support a free press.

Fund drives can be irritating listening, although the best stations put on their most fabulous programming and make the effort to play great pitch breaks, produced professionally with top shelf artists.  Most read the tired old lines in their pitch notebooks, and you know they’re phoning it in when you hear them repeat the lines.  No matter how well or poorly stations pitch, pitching works.  It’s how stations fund themselves.

The best stations promise to cut the pitching short when they reach a certain goal.  But they can’t stay alive without pitching.  They’re lucky they get to use the airwaves to beg for bucks.  The arts orgs would love to have that option!

OK, PD’s.  I know you have opinions on pitching.  Let’s hear ’em.

One of the coolest things that has happened in our society is that kids in their 20s are starting to listen to public radio.  Really.  It’s happening in a big way, and it’s because public radio is good radio.  We have this great, amazing thing we do, and for that I have much gratitude.  It’s well worth supporting.

 

 

About Marty Ronish

Marty Ronish is an independent producer of classical music radio programs. She currently produces the Chicago Symphony Orchestra broadcasts that air 52 weeks a year on more than 400 stations and online at www.cso.org. She also produces a radio series called "America's Music Festivals," which presents live music from some of the country's most dynamic festivals. She is a former Fulbright scholar and co-author of a catalogue of Handel's autograph manuscripts.

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