Bull's Eye

This guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, "Doc, my brother's crazy,
he thinks he's a chicken." The doctor says, "Why don't you turn him in?"
The guys says, "I would, but I need the eggs."
–Woody Allen, "Annie Hall"

On-air pledge drives work.  And they work fabulously.

On-air drives work because our own air is indisputably the best medium through which to reach potential givers.  Our pleas for fees are aimed at those who listen to our stations, and by definition, the programming that creates an audience offers the best way to reach that audience.

We are captives to the efficiency of our own medium.  And as we increase our reliance on the financial support of listeners, on-air drives will become an increasingly important part of what we do.

Potential Givers

On-air drives reach listeners who have completed the climb up the Stairway to Given.   They rely on the station and consider it important in their lives.  They believe listeners support it and that the government and other institutions are playing lesser roles.  They may never have given before, but now they’re ready to walk the Giving Path.

At most stations a primary objective of on-air drives is to turn these listeners into first-time givers.

Two-thirds of those listening anytime we open the microphone are not givers.  With strategic scheduling, we can reach a maximum number of non-givers within a relatively small number of hours.

Similarly, the frequency with which a significant percentage of non-givers may be reached can be calculated easily with Arbitron scheduling software available from the Radio Research Consortium.

As the idea of annual membership fades into the past, some strategists are experimenting with drives to get additional gifts from listeners who have already given.

One-third of the listeners who hear any pitch are current givers.  With smart break scheduling we can pitch additional gifts to an optimal number of givers in a minimal number of hours.

What About Other Media?

We can use the information in our databases to reach givers through direct mail and telemarketing.  Each medium extracts its own costs, and neither is inexpensive.

Reaching non-givers through these means is far trickier – as any medium besides our own is hit-and-miss, with the emphasis on the latter.

On the other hand, a station’s air is a "free" medium – the operating costs of a drive don’t seem to exceed by much the regular costs of running the station.  Both givers and non-givers are always within earshot.

The Inescapable Fact

On-air drives work because they deliver their messages to the right people.   They reach their targets so well that they can be done poorly and still make money.

Sure, on-air drives offer much to be concerned about.  We can and should do them better.

But there's no doubt they're with us to stay.

We can’t abandon them now.   We need the eggs.

– David Giovannoni
AUDIENCE 98 Core Team

 

Audience Research Analysis
Copyright © ARA and CPB.  All rights reserved.
Revised: September 01, 2000 12:38 PM.