Cause and Catalyst:
Turning Listeners into Givers

"Two mugs and a pound of coffee for 60 bucks?
You’d have to love the radio station to go for that deal."
– Focus group comment from a public radio fringe listener.

Programming causes audience. And programming causes listeners to give.

People give because the programming is important in their lives; they would miss it if it went away.

This basic principle was revealed by the Cheap 90 study and confirmed by  AUDIENCE 88 and NPR’s First-Time Giver’s study. It was confirmed during NPR’s financial crisis. It was confirmed when federal funding was threatened.

The decision to give is based on a listener’s use of and satisfaction with the station’s programming over time.

During the course of listening, the person is exposed to numerous fundraising appeals. At some point, the fundraising appeals begin to resonate. Only when messages about the programming’s significance ring true with people’s perceptions of the station will they be converted into givers.

Fundraising efforts offer the catalyst; but the listener’s relationship with the programming is the cause.

This is a critical point. On-air drives, direct mail, telemarketing, special events – any one of these may induce the act of giving, but none of these are the reason listeners give.

We can lead ourselves astray by forgetting this – for instance, when we judge programs by the number of pledges they generate during fundraising week. Phone calls don’t measure the importance of a program; they do measure a lot of other things, though – everything from at-home listening to the number of minutes available for pitching.

The On-Air Fundraising Partnership research shows that most pledge calls are made from listeners’ homes. It is no coincidence that the programs that generate the greatest number of pledges have the highest levels of at home listening.

The best pitchers, premiums, and challenge grants tend to be scheduled during the programs with the greatest opportunity for success. Some program formats simply lend themselves to on-air fundraising more than others. All of these factors affect the number of calls generated during a program. It is a disservice to the program, the station, and the audience to judge a program by its pledge calls.

Converting listeners into givers begins with understanding the difference between the catalyst for giving (fundraising methods) and the cause of giving (satisfaction with programming).

Your listeners understand this already. One of the most well educated media audiences knows better than to buy a sweatshirt for $150. They’d really have to love the radio station to go for that deal. And those who give do.

 – John Sutton
AUDIENCE 98 Associate

 

Audience Research Analysis
Copyright © ARA and CPB.  All rights reserved.
Revised: September 01, 2000 12:38 PM.