April CDP Index: Radio experiences first decline in new donors since rescission

This edition of the Public Media Index covers giving for the first full quarter of 2026 compared to the same three-month period ending March 31, 2025. In the April 2025 Index, we reported a modest 2.6% increase in new donors for TV/Joint licensees, with a 65% increase in new donors for Radio. Just as Radio results were the leading edge for a year of extraordinary growth, we believe this recent slip in new donors is the leading edge of the inevitable plateaus and declines to come in FY2027.

Importantly, every other metric across every Index breakout is still performing well above Q1 2025. Current year-over-year changes remain strong, though the rate of growth has been declining since September 2025. 

When looking at results for all organization types combined, the New Donor Index continues to show a nice 30% lift over last year. TV and Joint licensees are still seeing a 37% increase in new donors, and regardless of organization size, median results show ongoing increases in new donors for now.

The Membership Revenue Index growth rate declined from last month at a greater rate than we had been seeing, dropping from 43% to 34%. Both TV/Joint licensees and Radio-only organizations had year-over-year revenue increases exceeding 30%, as did organizations across all sizes.

The High-Dollar Gifts Index is growing at the greatest rate so far in 2026. In this most recent index, growth in gifts of $500 or more is still a remarkable 51%, though down from 60% last month. TV/joint licensees are still seeing a 54% increase in higher-level gifts, and Radio is at 45%.

The Sustainer Index continues to see an increase in year-over-year growth as these donors continue making gifts and being counted each month. The number of donors making at least one sustainer gift in the most recent three-month period increased by nearly 19% over last year. The current share of all new donors who made sustainer gifts is 45% compared to 39% last year. This bodes well for retention in 2026.

For TV and Joint licensees, increasing donor engagement via Passport can also drive lifts in donor retention. The number of Passport Users increased by 15% in the most recent index. This is flat with last month’s results.

Following the surge in giving during the COVID-19 pandemic, public media individual giving revenue remained largely constant, with modest growth for TV/Joint stations driven by Passport and flat performance for Radio. While three years of flat performance was not exciting, it did mean that gains made during the pandemic held. If we can mirror those results following the funding rescission, revenue and donor counts will remain well above pre-rescission numbers — an important point to hold onto when growth rates start to flatten or decline.

Continue investing in acquisition with strong messaging about the ongoing need for support and build a foundation for retaining donors and revenue by clearly showing how that support funded programs and services. Read more about CDP’s projections for revenue retention in FY2027.

This monthly report on the fundraising performance of public media stations is provided through an editorial collaboration between Current and Contributor Development Partnership (CDP). The collaboration draws from CDP’s National Reference File, which collects monthly membership and revenue data from more than 170 public media stations. (Read more about the methodology.)

Deb Ashmore joined CDP as Analytics Strategist in September 2023. With more than 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and public media fundraising, she is passionate about working to help clients understand their fundraising data to inform strategies for long-term file health and growth. Her previous public media experience includes 10 years as director of individual giving for WXPN in Philadelphia.