The Giving Path

Leading listeners to giving is the trip mapped out by this body of pitches originally developed for the On-Air Fundraising Partnership.

Messages for Steps One through Four are about the cause (programming) for giving to public radio.

Messages for Step Five are about the catalyst (fundraising) that stimulates giving.

All fundraising messages should address at least one of these steps.

Step One: The station must be important in the listener's life.

This new language reflects the significance of personal importance to the giving process, as reaffirmed
by AUDIENCE 98^®.

These messages remind the listener about the value of public radio – the programs, reports, features and music that resonate with his values.

In additional to regular pitching, they use program excerpts, testimonials, and interviews with public radio personalities to tap into the listener's values.

Step Two: The listener must be aware of our need for support.

These messages emphasize that listeners are our most important and reliable source of income.

They provide context by communicating how much money comes from listeners, business, and the government.

Step Three: The listener must agree that our need is valid.

These messages demonstrate how listener support results in the programming the listener values.

They show how public radio funding works with money going from the listener to stations to program producers. They explain, in meaningful ways, why programming is expensive.

Step Four: The listener must accept responsibility for helping us meet our needs.

These messages evoke the listener's sense of personal and social responsibility. They build on the intellectual and emotional value the listener places on the station, and his understanding of public radio funding.

Step Five: The listener must act.

These messages facilitate the act of giving, helping the listener decide how much to give, when to call, and how and when to pay.

Descriptions of pledge levels, premiums, challenge grants, and installment programs are all Step Five message.

 – John Sutton
AUDIENCE 98 Associate

 

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