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      The Effect of On-Air Pledge Drives
navblue.jpg (647 bytes) transpxl.gif (67 bytes)     Bull's Eye
navblue.jpg (647 bytes) transpxl.gif (67 bytes) transpxl.gif (67 bytes) Collateral Damage
navblue.jpg (647 bytes) transpxl.gif (67 bytes) transpxl.gif (67 bytes) How Many Listeners Are Givers?
navblue.jpg (647 bytes)arrow.gif (139 bytes) transpxl.gif (67 bytes) transpxl.gif (67 bytes) It Don't Mean a Thing When Those Pledge Phones Don't Ring
  Triangulating On The Effects Of On-Air Drives
  transpxl.gif (67 bytes) transpxl.gif (67 bytes) Driving Home The Numbers
  Formats And Fund Drives
  Where Do We Go From Here?

It Don't Mean A Thing
When Those Pledge Phones
Don't Ring


Some bad habits are harder to break than others.

One of the most persistent among public radio professionals is counting pledges as "votes" for the program on the air when the calls are made.

Even smart people who know better fall into this trap.

Maybe it’s the endless boredom and fatigue of a fund drive that makes us forget the facts.  Maybe it’s coffee nerves or sugar overload.  Maybe there’s a "Twinkie Defense" in there somewhere.

Maybe it’s because membership software encourages this kind of specious thinking by building in reports that count the "votes."

Whatever this habit's cause, it’s time to exercise some self control.  AUDIENCE 98® and common sense remind us why pledge counting shouldn't count in assessing the value of your programming to listeners.

Listeners become givers, in great part, because they rely on your service.   That means multiple tune-in occasions.

On average, givers tune in 11 times a week and listen to some part of six network programs and/or local formats.   But most people pledge only once during a drive – they don’t "vote" six times.

People call when it’s convenient.  Remember, these are highly educated people with busy lives.  The idea that they plan those lives around pledging during their favorite public radio program belies everything VALSTM 2 tells us about them.

Though lifestyle selects the time of the call, it’s the combination of reliance, personal importance, funding beliefs and ability to give – reflecting overall attitudes toward public radio and the station – that brings listeners to the phone.

Lifestyle permitting, a good pitch can stimulate a response.  But remember that it’s always the catalyst, never the cause.  When even the best pitches (and pitchers) fail it may be because

one-third of the listeners hearing any particular pitch have given already.

If your phones aren’t ringing it may be because you’re preaching to the choir.  And as the drive wears on, the choir gets bigger…leaving fewer potential givers to convert.

The collateral damage that drives inflict on listeners also increases with each passing day.  Because this damage is hidden, the point of diminishing returns is passed more quickly than many may acknowledge.

Put it all together and you have a mathematical argument for shorter drives.

The big problem with counting pledges is that it’s not a harmless parlor game.  Decisions based on the ringing of telephones or the unscientific polling of callers can undermine your station’s real value to listeners by focusing on the catalyst and ignoring the true cause.

That’s not just a bad habit, it’s a downright danger to public service.

– Leslie Peters
AUDIENCE 98 Core Team

 

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