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I’ll see if I can get some detail from our AD of Online Strategy. I believe we send email daily during the campaign — targeting various groups, plus emails prior to the campaign. Sorry to be so vague! I’ll check in with him once he’s back in the office.
I’d be interested in hearing about social media strategy. At my previous workplace — an online (with podcasts) news organization, we found that social media wasn’t very successful in moving the needle for generating revenue or promoting fundraising campaigns. Great for other things, just not this.
1. How long has your station conducted on-air fundraising?
The station is 61 years old, so I imagine we’ve been doing this since the 80s I’ve been listening to the pledge drives since I moved to DC in 2000.2. Have you been involved in the planning process?
Yes, there is an amazingly (obsessively!) detailed spreadsheet created by my predecessor that lists out every last thing that needs to be done for the campaign. You plug in the dates and it back dates everything from the campaign. It’s been very helpful, especially given 5 weeks of my summer have been taken up by grand jury duty (2 weeks to go). Don’t do crimes!3. What other elements of fundraising do you need to be aware of at your station as you plan your on-air campaign?
I’ve been working with our Assistant Director of Online Strategy and Program Director about scheduling spots to support pre-drive email and direct mail campaigns. Trying to get the thank you gifts in place now to avoid pesky supply chain issues. Need to meet with some of news leadership to discuss impact and plans for the upcoming midterms, to create talking points around the importance of local news during the campaign.1. I’ve spent a billion years in public media, starting at the Louisville stations (news/jazz at that time) where I sold underwriting, then Georgia PUblic Broadcasting (news/music at the time) where I was the assistant director of radio, which included producing the on-air campaigns, 13 years at NPR as the station relations liaison for stations the top 25 media markets, then membership work at an environmental NGO and later The Intercept, a non profit online progressive news organization, and finally back to pubmedia at WAMU in where I am the assistant director of membership and will produce the quarterly on air campaigns, among other things.
2. Biggest pain points are staffing issues (we are crazy short staffed right now), wrapping my head around all the components of my job (I started June 1), and time (I got called for grand jury duty June 15-August 19, so I’m squeezing work in evenings and weekends as I can).
3. I was fortunate to sit in on the 5 day mini-campaign three days after I started, so it was great to see how things were produced and and listen to the campaign more actively than when I was a “regular” listener. I hope to learn how to navigate the current economic situation, coupled with giving being flat to down, and the kind of messaging others are using to encourage other people to donate.
