Current (https://current.org/project-category/fundraising/)
In May 2018, Houston Public Media launched the Young Leaders Council with one overarching goal in mind: creating lifelong public media ambassadors. A nominating committee selected an inaugural class of 16 members following interviews with candidates. Ultimately, 30-35 young professionals will represent a cross section of the many communities Houston Public Media now serves and actively encourage others to engage with the station’s content.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor, the Mister Rogers documentary, was a national common carriage PBS program that aired in February 2019. The Mister Rogers Challenge was Houston Public Media’s local pledge effort that included targeted email promotion to 130,000 people, a major donor matching challenge, and local pledge break after the program.
Beginning in 2017 Boise State Radio decided to take a different spin on Giving Tuesday. Instead of focusing on the station, they decided to celebrate other local nonprofits. Local Citizens nominated their favorite local nonprofits, and then the station awarded a $1,000 underwriting package to randomly selected winners.
In November of 2018, KVMR raised over $43,000 dollars in just one day for the survivors of the catastrophic Camp Fire in Paradise, CA located just an hour and a half away from the station. In addition to KVMR’s commitment to supporting their neighbors through efforts like this, the station is also the official Emergency Broadcaster in the region. During summer 2019, a team of 10 broadcasters were trained to take the lead in case of emergency.
Every spring, Valley Public Radio partners with local youth orchestras and symphony to host a 12-week-long series featuring live performances from talented student musicians from throughout the San Joaquin Valley. The performances are largely classical music,with some exceptions. Host David Aus interviews students in between their performances, and also serves as program producer. KVPR serves a wide and diverse region covering two markets (Fresno and Bakersfield) and Young Artists Spotlight is an opportunity to bring together our communities and celebrate the unique platform that Valley Public Radio brings our region.
Donate a Recorder is a “give back” initiative that tackles a genuine need in our region while embracing the mission of WDAV – to build a community focused on classical music. Donate a Recorder combines fundraising, education, musical discovery and community engagement all in one initiative. When people make a membership gift on air or in renewal mailings, instead of receiving a CD, coffee mug, or baseball cap, they can choose the “Donate a Recorder” option as a benefit at the $100 level.
To celebrate the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, PBS in Topeka created this two-hour community conversation with students and teachers from the segregation era. Shot in a modern-day Cinema Verite’ style on a single day in 2019, students and teachers from the four segregated Black schools in Topeka talked about their lives prior to and after integration. The five-part series included: Growing up in Topeka’s Black Community; Family, Friends, Neighbors; School and You (Segregation); School and You (Integration); and After-effects (outcomes, impact).
“What Listening Looks Like” asked people to show us where they listen to our radio services and had them take a selfie and send it to us to be shared on our website. We had an underwriter who would donate $5 for every photo submitted. This ran for one month and we received close to 1,000 selfies! This is great engagement, a wonderful revenue source and costs the station nothing but staff time and on-air promotional time.
Each spring and fall for the last 5 years, WBHM has partnered with local artists to create a design which is then featured on a pint glass that is given as a thank you gift exclusively during that fund drive. We only ask that the design be centered around the theme of public radio and feature our call letters. Other than that, the artist is free to create whatever they want (as long as it fits in the specified dimensions.)