Changing Vendors is Like Changing Banks?

I’ve heard a good number of arguments in recent years as to why changing vendors or practices is too much work or too risky.  Changing how we do things may mean a loss of control or take work away that keeps a staff member busy.  We stay with a vendor or practice because it’s in our comfort zone, because we like the friendly folks on the other end of the line, or we don’t have the bandwidth to think beyond the here & now.  We take it on faith that nobody else can write a renewal letter like we can, because our station is unique.  Yet we don’t test other messages because we don’t have the budget to do so.

Maybe we don’t change because we haven’t been asked by the board or university to find lower-cost, higher net revenue-producing projects and vendors.  Maybe they’re asking now.

One might conclude that changing vendors and practices like changing banks.  Who wants to go through the bother?  So you stay, even though you’re not thrilled with your bank.

That doesn’t strike me as being in the spirit of public media.  Our public service mission has always included a high level of curiosity, risk-taking, exploration and discovery.  Ask the public we serve and they’ll describe us as bold and innovative; no flies on us.   

Exploring options certainly makes financial sense when the clarion call is to pour more money into the station’s local mission.  We now know from listening and viewing data during the coronavirus shutdowns that core audiences have been deeply reliant on public media for fact-based journalism, science, music, drama, and learning tools that helped kids stay engaged while at home.      

We also know that stations that consistently asked for support during the pandemic (e.g., modifying but not canceling pledge drives) are more financially stable.  Stations who are partners in CDP’s Member Services Bureau (MSB) were especially consistent in their operations, even as fundraising was disrupted by shuttered print shops, canceled events & major giver face-to-face meetings, and staff unaccustomed to working remotely. 

One might approach the exploration of new vendors and practices by saying, “If It ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

If that argument were valid, none of us would have Sustainer programs.  If that argument were made as we faced a nosedive in new donors, there would be no proof that canvassing would help stations generate 30% of their new members.  Passport?  Too much work.  Planned Giving?  Too long of a wait.  Why switch to a vehicle donation vendor that returns 80-84% to the station instead of the current 65-70% that benefits the middleman? 

We owe it to our donors to find the most effective and efficient ways to use the dollars they give us.  We owe it to our programming staff to reduce the cost to raise a dollar so that we can funnel the net income back to them so they can inform, delight, and serve our communities.

CDP walks the walk.  When we find a vendor that can do it better, faster and cheaper at scale, while maintaining the high quality that partner stations and the public deserve, we switch.  When we learn of a practice that can generate high ROI with little to no impact on local staff, we help implement it.  That’s why CDP has been able to return $190 million of incremental value back to stations since our inception.  

Change isn’t always easy.  As your devoted partner, CDP can make change easier and more profitable.