Willing And Able

Public radio’s older generation is not only loyal in listening, it’s also dependable in giving. Age is no barrier to climbing the Stairway to Given.

In ascending each of the five steps, older listeners keep pace with Baby Boomers, and sometimes leave Generation Xers behind.

Swing generation listeners are at the peak of their earning power, and their gifts equal those of Boomers. WWII listeners, now mostly retired, have lower incomes – closer to those of Gen Xers. Still, they are more apt to give than the youngest listeners, whom they lead substantially in reliance on public radio, and personal importance of the service in their lives.

As a group, WWII listeners give smaller gifts – not a factor of their age but of their ability to afford.

Or it is?

AUDIENCE 98^® doesn’t measure the net worth or personal financial value of the audience. But other sources tell us that older Americans, especially the best educated, own a large portion of all financial assets – the result of a lifetime of work, earning, and saving that younger groups simply haven’t had.

Eventual access to this accumulated wealth is what public radio’s nascent planned giving activities strive to gain.

But these efforts can only succeed if our programming continues to serve their interests well.

– Leslie Peters
– David Giovannoni
– Jay Youngclaus
AUDIENCE 98 Core Team

 

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