Bring in the new

While NCPR wants to end traditional public radio fundraising as we know it by eliminating the on-air week-long beg-fest that steps all over your favorite programs, that means we have to work our other “channels” pretty hard, including this one. You’re getting lots of email. Our Facebook feed is heavy with giving messages.

Since the Listening Post subscriber list is mostly made up of people who have donated to the station in the past, we assume that you have already “done the thing,” or are about to do it at any moment. This one, perhaps?

We give you our thanks–possibly in advance, but thanks–for your giving, and thanks for your patience with our evolving business model. We count on you, and we are confident that we can continue to do so.

But you are among only 10% or so of regular listeners who donate to support the station. If your back is a little sore, it might be because you carry the weight of ten. All of you know someone whose “weight” you are carrying, and if you have ever asked them why they listen to but don’t support public radio, there are as many reasons as there are for giving. However, many of them are ill-informed:

• They get my tax dollars. What more do they need?
  NCPR gets only 16% of its budget from federal and state government funds. We have to raise the rest.
• They get money from businesses, why do they need mine?
  Underwriting by local businesses is an important part of our budget, but the largest piece of our budget comes from individual listener contributions–4,740 of them in the last fiscal year.
• I can’t stand listening to the on-air fundraiser. 
  The solution is obvious. Support our effort to end them forever.
• If I have to watch that Three Tenors special again I will scream! 
  Public television and public radio are separate operations. We don’t take credit for Big Bird, so don’t blame us for the Three Tenors.

For extra karma credit, you might help us to bring in new donors. Whenever you begin a sentence with “I heard on NCPR this morning that…” you could mention somewhere in the following that you support the station that gives you the information you are sharing. Don’t do it every time, all the time, but now during our fundraiser. If they respond with commonly-held misinformation, set them straight. You could even mention prize drawings.

The generous enthusiasm of  NCPR listeners is our secret weapon. Now is the time to deploy it.