Benchmarks for Public Radio Fundraising

Evaluate your station’s fundraising performance and understand your full revenue potential with annual Benchmarks reports.

FY20 Benchmarks reports for stations will be ready in early February of 2021.

Plan to participate in FY21 Benchmarks starting October, 2021.

Benchmarks Features:

Last year we reworked Benchmarks data submission and reports to make them easier and more useful. You’ll discover:

• A report layout that’s easier to navigate
• Easy access to your station’s data at your convenience with one login for your entire organization
• More detail about major giving levels
• Corporate support revenue tracking in one place with greater detail

Why Benchmarks?

Benchmarks delivers clear data that can help set your fundraising agenda for the year. It’s free to all Greater Public members!

The Benchmarks program is the only research that compares each station’s net revenue relative to the size of its audience so you get an apple-to-apples comparison. Nearly a hundred stations participate in Benchmarks each year, representing a cross section of market and station sizes and accounting for nearly 40 percent of the nation’s public radio listening.

With Benchmarks, you can:

• Discover where you have headroom to increase revenue.
• Make the case for increased attention or spending in an undeveloped area.
• Demonstrate your station’s fundraising efficiency relative to other similar stations.
• Find out if your fundraising covers your core operating costs.
• Examine your dependence on institutional subsidies relative to other stations.