Public Media Giving Days: Why Your Station Should Take Part
Public Media Giving Days is the opportunity your station has been waiting for to combine the power of giving days, like Giving Tuesday with the media exposure of broadcast public media! This new public media fundraising event provides an opportunity for stations to come together and promote brand awareness while also raising much-needed funds. Let’s break down some top-level reasons for your station to take part.
Raise Awareness
Participating in a Public Media Giving Days is the perfect opportunity for your station to gain more visibility and reach new audiences. By partnering with other local and national public media stations, you can share resources and ideas, supporting one another as you spread the word about public media and your station. This special giving day provides the perfect platform to showcase your programming, network with other stations (including local radio and tv stations working together) and reach out to potential donors who may not have been aware of your station before.
Engage Your Community
Public Media Giving Days is a community event that brings people together around something they care deeply about. By participating, you will drive interactions with current supporters while also engaging new members of your community who may be interested in supporting you. You can use social media campaigns or other methods to encourage supporters to get involved through donations or sharing their own stories about how they use or benefit from your programming. This will help create real connections between supporters and your station’s mission—and those connections can drive emotions with those emotions then converting into dollars. As we know (link back to mission blog) from previous blogs, these mission-driven donors have the greatest long-term value to your organization!
Generate Funds
Most importantly, Public Media Giving Days provides an excellent opportunity for your stations to generate funds that can be used to support your operations or special projects. These days create an atmosphere of excitement that encourages donors to give what they can—whether it’s $5 or $500—to help keep the broadcasting going strong. Perhaps most importantly, a national digital day, with deep social and interpersonal engagement, has the potential to drive a higher percentage of acquisition. We know recently acquisition has been a challenge for public media with a few bright spots, such as canvassing. We hope you will take part in Public Media Giving Days to help us add another acquisition bright spot.
Little to No Content Creation Needed
With a wealth of content provided by CDP, Greater Public, NPR and PBS, Public Media Giving Days is easy to execute, no matter the size of your station. Whether it is email copy, social media posts, graphics, on-air copy or videos, even stations with limited resources can take part in #PMGD. The prebuilt content available on the Public Media Giving Days website (link to website) allows your team to focus on any customizations and targeting while allowing you to tap into high-quality materials similar to those that have already been tested and optimized by these same organizations. With access to six fundraising emails, 15 social media posts, newsletter promotional copy, logos and even copy for your supporters to utilize, you are sure to find something your organization can use!
National Brand Association
One avenue we believe is often overlooked, especially in the face of our acquisition challenge, is leveraging national brands to help our local brands. By doing this, we can benefit from the ambiguity that often exists in the market. National brands have a significant impact and influence on people's lives, and by collaborating with them, we can attract their loyal fans to become new donors to our local stations. This approach sits at the intersection of national and local fundraising, and it's an excellent opportunity to reach a wider audience while promoting our local stations, content and events. Public Media Giving Days allows for optimal exploration of this avenue, creating more new donors and increasing our overall acquisition efforts.
Flexibility
Public Media Giving Days is also flexible—your station can participate as little or as much as you want. Is your email person on vacation, but you can still post on social? Great. In the middle of a special pledge on TV? Great, maybe just include a mention on-air or in an email! The flexible approach of Public Media Giving Days allows your station to tailor their engagement to meet their specific needs and circumstances. Additionally, because creative is being provided for you on the Public Media Giving Days website, it is easy to be flexible—even at the last minute. Just found out about Public Media Giving Days two days before it’s happening? Not a problem—grab some of our text and drop it on your Facebook page or take one of our existing graphics and put it on your website carousel—the possibilities and flexibility are endless.
Public Media Giving Days allows your station to reach new donors and engage with existing ones. In today's digitally connected world, it is both essential and desirable to make use of the power of initiatives like giving days to promote brand awareness while also raising much-needed funds. With a communal atmosphere, this event provides your station with an opportunity to create an atmosphere of excitement and urgency that drives interactions with current supporters while also engaging new members of your community. We encourage you to take advantage of the unprecedented opportunities presented by Public Media Giving Days and to reach out to CDP for more information on how you can join in the celebration! Working together, we will stand united for public media, helping your station secure a brighter future through this special community engagement initiative.