Understand what about public media fundraising is different from other nonprofit fundraising
Media Fundraising Vocabulary
Here is a great list of common media fundraising terms that will be helpful to know as you familiarize yourself with the world of public media.
Listener Trends
In public media, people who are listening and watching matters. It’s these individuals who will make up your membership pool. Membership participation is directly correlated with listening/viewing, so it’s important to understand the listenership patterns.
| Year | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY17 to FY21 |
| Listener Hours | 3,849,083,617 | 3,759,102,818 | 3,542,450,019 | 3,439,365,220 | 3,656,018,021 | 3,849,083,617 to 3,656,018,021 |
| Percent Change | -2.34% | -5.76% | -2.91% | +6.30% | -5.02% |
Benchmarks for Public Radio Fundraising is an annual trend report for Greater Public member stations that shows how a station’s listenership is converted to membership.
Bias
Membership in public media reflects the people who consume the media and also what fundraisers, content producers, and managers perceive as “public media people,” i.e. predominantly white, educated, and wealthy. It’s important to understand this bias, and also crucial for the health of the audience and the strongest possible membership program to take steps to disrupt that bias in making membership strategy decisions. Strive for representation and respectful outreach in your fundraising.
Listeners and Viewers
Your supporters will be a small section of your viewing/listening audience. That’s ok. You aren’t aiming for everyone to become a member, because part of the power of public media is that it’s freely available to everyone regardless of their ability to support it. What you should understand in order to craft the best fundraising messages is:
- Who are your viewers/listeners?
- What do they care about?
- Why do they listen/view?
- How familiar are they with what you do?
Understand Station Roles
Public media stations have several roles that are uncommon in the wider nonprofit world. Take time to meet with the corporate and/or business support team(s), the traffic department and the content team to understand their roles and how you will work with them to execute membership strategies and tactics. Building trust with station management will be critical to your success. It’s important to invest time early to understand their priorities and how you will build a partnership.
On-Air Promotion
The biggest difference between public media and other nonprofit organizations is the availability of on-air promotion to ask and thank donors. For a deep dive on on-air fundraising, check out the on-air toolkit.
Donor Pyramid
Outside of public media a typical $5 million fundraising campaign would look something like this:
Typical non-profit $5 million fundraising campaign
| Gift Amount | No. Gifts | No. Prospects Needed | Cumulative Total | Cumulative Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,250,000 | 1 | 5 | $1,250,000 | 25 |
| $600,000 | 1 | 5 | $1,850,000 | 37 |
| $500,000 | 2 | 10 | $2,850,000 | 57 |
| $300,000 | 2 | 10 | $3,450,000 | 69 |
| $200,000 | 3 | 15 | $4,050,000 | 81 |
| $100,000 | 4 | 20 | $4,450,000 | 89 |
| $50,000 | 4 | 30 | $4,650,000 | 93 |
| $40,000 | 5 | 25 | $4,850,000 | 97 |
| $20,000 | 5 | 25 | $4,950,000 | 99 |
| <$20,000 | 50+ | $5,000,000 | 100 |
At a public media station with a fundraising budget of $5 million, stations would typically build out their gift table like this.
Typical public media station $5 million fundraising campaign
| Gift Amount | No. Gifts | Total | Percentage of Total Revenue |
| $10,000+ | 13 | $188,900 | 3.7% |
| $5,000 | 27 | $162,000 | 3.2% |
| $2,500 | 55 | $170,000 | 3.4% |
| $1,000 | 555 | $746,500 | 15% |
| $500 | 762 | $461,000 | 9% |
| $250 | 2720 | $881,900 | 18% |
| $100 | 11,850 | $1,730,100 | 35% |
| $50 | 7,218 | $465,000 | 9.3% |
| $20 | 3,000 | $95,100 | 2% |
| <$20 | 665 | $6,600 | .13% |
There are many advantages to having a broader base of support and to encourage gifts from many users, not just high-net worth individuals. Just as nonprofits outside of public media can learn from our experiences with broad based marketing and crowdfunding campaigns, we too can work to implement strategies that bring in larger gifts to help balance out the gift chart.
Annual Giving
One additional change in fundraising in public media from other nonprofit sectors is that our fundraising campaigns run all-year round. Public media stations don’t have a single “annual appeal” or one big gala or 5K run that brings in the majority of the budget. As you go through these membership program resources, keep in mind that you are building a program that needs to serve members, audience, and station staff each day of the year. Renewal letters must launch monthly, on-air drives happen 3-4 times a year (maybe more), promotion spots run on-air weekly or daily. All these efforts need to be planned and coordinated with the end goal in mind to run smoothly.
See more from the Membership Essentials for Those New to Public Media Toolkit
Essential Donor Services
Make sure your donor service team is fully supported to provide answers, assistance and care to your donors.
Building a Membership Revenue Budget
Use past data to build an annual plan and track results.
The Structure of an On-Air Pitch
Explore the elements of a great pitch break, including “dos” and “don’t” for producers and pitchers.
Starting a Sustainer Program
A strong sustainer program is the bedrock of successful public radio fundraising. Follow our guide to get, retain, and recover valuable sustainer members.
How Your Audience Gives
Learn about the different types of gifts your public media station can receive and how to plan for them.
