1965 National Association of Educational Broadcasters Convention; ETV Fund Raising Luncheon

But however where are you. Would you. Would you please continue with you know that. We have other than your president the speaker a terrific panel of talent here but they're terribly handicapped by the time. So would you please continue with your the I will move the program. Along. If I may because I usually do. I'm going back to Maine for a minute and come back with a story that some of you heard before but it's very appropriate for this occasion and I think quite appropriate to the situation which we are currently find ourselves. We do live in the main. Let me start by saying you've been very fortunate. But in Maine of great Roe that runs from. Bangor Maine to home in Maine and it's called a military highway that runs almost in a straight line through about 60 miles of

very dense Ford. It was built in 1840 tool. By a first lieutenant of the IMEI of Engineers by the name Robert E. Lee. The same young man went south later on got in trouble but he did a great job with the old man. It's a beautiful highway and it basically has a famous structure and foundation as it headed 1842. Well this is just to set the background because it heads a 45 mile an hour speed limit and come you know the town the whole one day with a very attractive young lady 900 64 Buick convertible. You got four miles below Hold'em. And got carried away with the port and got the count to 50 miles an hour. Look in the rearview mirror and here was a Maine state trooper with a flashing light a fire going come right out. So we stepped it up and down a little hot I got up to 55 miles per hour. I looked in the mirror and here were two state trooper the light flashing and the sirens going right behind a wall if you will down through. There are

several metropolis. Like metal one take each with a pet Lacoste the gun. And Warhawk going along while she went down to the metropolis by about 55 miles an hour with the state trooper behind it got down below where a branch of the with a padlock stream and looked in the rearview mirror and there were three state troopers with us trying to go into like flash and she came into town the whole town around the Stillwater corner 94 miles out to the pretty good about 93 degrees. Came around I skidded to a stop in front of the polling station jumped out and ran a little room. Well when she came out a few minutes later here were the three state trooper with a problem and the head squarely on the head laid hands on the hips. Not at all impressed by the by the by the experience and she looked out of miles if you followed in the guy going to make it. Did you cut it. Well. Frankly we were terribly afraid that there would be loads. There would be

those who did not think they were going to make it there's no one and we want to apologize. To those who were not able to find lunch with us. But we're going to have to come and join us in the in the chair that I've been prepared to the rear. I'm not going to take much time my function here is to Chamonix this panel. I have rather strong feelings frankly about fundraising. I have rather unorthodox feelings about fundraising. I don't think there's anything also dogged or easy about raising money. And again if I might go back to Maine up a nice what a pit walk there with the fellow who won on that NBC contest. If you'll excuse the expression when NBC contest which gave him two weeks in Jack EMI of New York City he'd never been any farther away than Bangor 40 miles away the town with great gusto. We went down to New York City for a two week trip. When he came back in two weeks at the American Legion band out the jury of society was there with our children had a day off from school to go pick up the main federal road easement try a

stake in the middle whole town was and they said Harry how do you like New York. He said there was so much going on the people. I never did get to see the village. Fund. Man. In that hangs out tale frankly because in fund raising in educational television. There has been so much going on of the people that would never have got to see the village fund raising potential fund raising concern. I feel very very strongly about this. Many of my colleagues don't agree with me and I think this is a perfectly adequate and satisfactory that they want to go down that way that that's a choice. I have not a strong background in television. I do have a rather lengthy background in fundraising and the answer to raising funding raising money is not as difficult as it may seem the first thing you got to do it asked for and most of us don't really do that

we come up with a few flights on our screen that indicate if you'll send money you'll get more of the same which is not always an inducement. Problem I always try to find some way to get people to give us money without really working at it. It is very very difficult to raise funds and the first thing you got to do is ask for it and the last thing you have to do is ask for. A number to know you must present some thought of a case and some form of mechanism and some thought about the range whereby it will be they will be motivated and then it becomes not too difficult for them to give to you. I happen to believe the educational problem can be and will be supported at the community level by the gifts for the people. If you give them the opportunity to do that if you give them the incentives to do it. That's the needs of your station. The values of your station but you can't in my mind just get on the air. Like Proctor and Gamble with the white knight and say Send money. I think you have to

involve the community in the raising of your fun. I think where we find ourselves with many of the older stations such as our own in Pittsburgh which for years depended upon the magnanimous giving of a few very substantial foundations who pretty well picked up the base of the station's budget for year after year after year and a few dollars with banks around it from the schools. A few dollars were thrown in by interested individuals and this just made up the budget at that time of some 600 or so thousand dollars this is a very undesirable situation in my mind. It no longer exists in Pittsburgh but it now is much larger. But we have no gifts. That really go over ten thousand dollars making up a budget now is somewhat excessive a hundred thousand moment. We have broad based support across community because when you depend on one of two or three sources for your support and those sources dry up either by your own children. Well there is all whatever happens you're in deep trouble.

And not only that the potential of control program always exists when you have a major supporter in one major poll. So we broadened our base and now find ourselves getting getting our money from unemployed steelworkers and cab drivers from sales ladies from teachers from college professors from physicians from corporations from industries from cleaning plant from Bobby straw. On a well organized total involvement of the community for one month February 15 February 16 in Pittsburgh. If there's anyone that doesn't know that there is a WQED in Pittsburgh at that time and doesn't know that you QED is presenting educational television and x number of hours and so forth and so on the WQED need this much money and that person is either deaf and or drunk because everybody in town know you have. We have neon signs on the Hill that announces the trolley or have announcements on the trolley

car of the commercial stations turned over a great many hours of programming time to watch the total involvement of the total commune. And then we leave him alone we don't come all with commercials that says send money to eat. We don't. We thank them from time to time by saying the following program will make possible to your generosity. Last February. And we don't come on with commercials asking them to give us money. One man's opinion work pretty well. Even Kerry we've been carrying forward with $700000 a year the last three years because of this kind of. Of support involvement. That you have to set the pattern and to create some curiosity and some antagonism because it seems to work well in a controversial kind of program that we seem to be doing. I want to set this pattern by saying it's my hope that every station rather community supported school supported state supported will feel the desire and the need to supplement and enrich it didn't come from other sources in order that the that the

kind of programs that are only possible with this kind of extra kind of money if you will. I possible they were content to pump out what our average budget will allow us to pump out over any given period of time. And I just don't think Education Television will ever make a really significant contribution to either the educational or the social logical economic life the American people I think depend on those of us. We're charged with the responsibility. Of the last four years I used well or you're going to think I'm BTV biggest problem with money it is not in my not its people not not money people. Because you get the people the right kind of people the right court kind of orientation with the right kind of motivations and abilities. You're going to get the money. I'm convinced of this so that we are here today with a bit of a very rapid overview roundtable of fundraising as we find it as maybe and we should find it in the larger community educational television station in the not just small but small

of an IF YOU WILL community educational television station and in the educational television station which is basically schools supported and we hope that from this overview that all of you whatever your base of support whatever your base of interest are concerned will find ways and motivation to help you go out and do a better job of gaining ongoing realistic stable support for your state. Chicago is represented here today as a larger station which depends basically on community support. Miami no I'm sorry. Tampa Tampa which is about to be beaten by the University of Maine. Tampa he will have a videotape of the game to show you that you have sent me the tape but I know it's going to be like Tampa or is he representing the smaller Not Small I'll believe but the smaller station in relation to it you go and then or is he running the school station. And we've asked each of the panelists to give us just a quick overview for a few minutes and I hope we can find a few minutes

at the coach to discuss an exchange some of these ideas if anyone has come with the idea. Maybe I can find an easy way to raise money for my state's New York you know won't happen. But here we try to find a way however difficult it may be to find support for your station. I think my three colleagues will be able to give you some that when I do it may I start by introducing the gentleman from Chicago over that the situation with the view of PTW in Chicago. Ed Morris who currently is program director or have you in the Congo but who performs many more functions on that. Ed would you want to give us an overview of Chicago. You know it's specially. Specially nice to come to a meeting like this and I'm not going to make many preliminaries but I think a point is made by I remember a session of the affiliates in Denver a few years

ago when I was also where I had to persuade any tea that we ought to talk about fundraising I recall sitting in an old time bar in central city and having five guys come and sit down at the table with me and say I want to talk about fundraising with you. And this is quite a change from that. Apparently all of a sudden. All the sudden they discovered that it does take some kind of expertise to raise money. I discovered it a long time ago I don't claim to have all the answers but it take me a while to learn it. And I think Don's point is very well taken. I wish I had some main humor to go with what I have to say. And I suppose that there are some situations in fund raising that are amusing but I've yet to find them. It's just hard work. I think that I think that I would have to characterize in the larger city situation the most important factor in terms of. Setting up a program and making it work for you and in fundraising is an identity

program. Everybody who is in television thinks or has a board member who thinks or has several board members who think that all you got to do is be on the air and people know you're there and this is going to make your job infinitely easier and that's why there is so much a fallacy about the idea that you can do the best most effective fund raising by doing it on the air. You certainly can key it. You certainly can key it in this is a valuable thing but the first thing and the first thing that we talked about when I went to Debian 1059 checkmark was and I talked about it then was how we were going to how we were going to get a common identity with the people of Chicago because Chuck was then doing a kind of programming which serve the whole community. So I think that the preliminary to the actual techniques of fundraising and an ongoing part of the program and I've been a disciple of this as long as I've been in the TV now. And it is is an identity program a public relations program you need it. You

can avoid it. Identity goes into all areas of everything you do. A common symbol which the public can recognize is your symbol in which you can plaster all of your city is a very good thing to do. Related to the identity program falls of the area and the responsibility of organizing a campaign a campaign cannot an identity campaign and a fundraising campaign can't be successful unless it's an organized sort of a proposition. And then I think the third thing I only wrote these three words on a pad because I think I think better about fund raising as I develop it this way. The third thing is a continuation of it. Don says in Pittsburgh it's one month and keep and in keep the keep the minds of the public on on. On the fact that there is a double QED Pittsburgh and it needs money and it needs money in this month and that's fine. I think it's 12 months a year 12 months a year and 18 hours a

day if you can do it that you need this money. I don't think you I don't think you keep going to the same people all this time but in a city the size of Chicago if you if you swing with the with the biggest axe you can get in the widest circle you still get all the people who potentially can give you money and you've got to reach him in every single way you can think of. Now our basic campaign in Chicago is divided into three parts. First part is direct mail. And direct mail we approach like any other any other sales meeting. And I'll come back to that in a minute. The second part of our campaign is our corporate campaign and we have a substantial industry in Chicago so we build we build with the corporations too. And third we have a campaign which supplements what we do in mail. It's a community campaign this is where everybody joins in and swings an ax and participates in a program. Many of the larger communities are medium sized communities they say. That that house to house campaigns are dead. I tell you they are not dead and I will make the point that last year we

had 15000 volunteers on the street raising money for the station and we were able to say that we get gifts whether they're 25 cents or $5000 from 250000 people in the Chicago area. And this year we'll get more gifts than that and we'll get more money. Now how does this break down. The mail campaign begins in October. In October we do our first mailing and we have a basic mailing piece which is keyed to both aspects of our program at that time. And this this small piece looks like the big and I only happen to have the big one here in front of me but we have a theme and we we drill that theme in every place. This year it happens to be 10 years old and growing because this is our 10th anniversary. And this by the way is a brochure which we distribute to our team workers in the corporate campaign. But we have a smaller version of this which goes on our mailing lists and our mailing list is a mailing list. Building is a very is a very

professional kind of a job. You take somebody to spend a great deal of time to build a mailing list. Our mailing list we doubled this past summer. We doubled it by list swapping. We have a number of community organizations in Chicago and. We have gotten a basic list from many of them and we build up a list of about 60000 names. So this summer we got together with the Civic Opera who happens to have a finalist of about 50000 and we just swap and we said we don't care if we've got 60000 you've got 40000 that we can use will trade even and we mechanize or less by the way anybody who thinks you can do it by hand addressing forget it. You can't do that kind of thing. We're we're now on. We're now on speed amat plates and we'll go to a computer system within the next year and it's going to cost us $40000 to do it. But when we get through we can pick out we can pick out one I want I left footed kickers

and mail to him if we want to we can do specialized mailing in this. This is very important because we raised we raised an average of $10 per giver last year one hundred twenty two thousand dollars by mail. This was done. This was done strictly with with three mailings we used to do six we cut it down to three we did a mailing in October. We did a follow up in December. We did a second follow up in March. The net result one hundred twenty two thousand. This year we've added a dimension. We don't believe in memberships. We don't believe in memberships. We tell people that we don't we don't we are our members are the people who we serve in the community the educational and cultural institutions on the membership side. We don't believe in that but we've added a new dimension. We're doing something a lot of you are already doing we're doing a program guide and a program guide is now bringing us an average 20 percent higher gift. Because people want it takes 15 dollars to get a program guide and in this particular instance we've already had 800 people who have either up their gifts

or become new subscribers. Which is which is all to the good. So that's the way the mail campaign works. We launch our corporate campaign at the same time we launch the mail campaign. We use a team system. Last year the the corporate campaign raised one hundred forty seven thousand dollars from four hundred twenty seven corporations. This year we expect to add 50 percent to that campaign and increase it to probably two hundred twenty five 250000 dollars in cooperation. We've got to do it to take advantage of the fourth inning. Let me just say one thing to you in terms of follow up. One of the things I said something about publish the unpublished the being important. Our second our first followup was a reproduction of a newspaper article which we used to advantage. We get we get the right headline on the article and we use it as a follow up piece just one says forward to match cash gifts to Channel 11 and it's asterisk Innes's contributions from the community reprinted with the permission Chicago Tribune.

All we mail for our second piece after we mail this one is a reprint of a newspaper article in a novel. And that brings us again 50 50 percent of the contributions. Now the third phase of our campaign. The house to house part of it is is a. The way we cadre our mailing list every name everybody who gives us a dollar more in his campaign we get their name because we give out a receipt and we ask our workers to turn in the stuff. And they do. We added about 12000 names this past year to this part of the this part of the campaign by by using a house to house Faison. We've now added a new phase to fund raising and I think that some of the people involved don't even know it yet. We set up what we call a program for advisory leadership under a Citizen's Council. This is one hundred ten people who are not members of our board who are outstanding citizens who we want to get interested in. And in educational

television we sign him up we sign him up for the Citizens Council. We established a four point program for him to give us something to do something useful to us. And we will slowly but surely absorb them into our board and into our fundraising efforts. I could spend a lot more time tell you raise money but I know you want to hear from these other guys and I just want to say that identity continued identity in the community. An aggressive approach to an aggressive approach to the program and a continuing campaign are the things we think are most think or most important we don't do a hard sell promotion but once a year on the air in terms of fundraising but year round after significant programs we introduce a promotion which says that this is a community owned station and the program they've just seen is a part of what their dollars do. And if they haven't made a contribution to make. I think that these are the things that you can do in a big city you have to keep the pressure on. And I personally don't think it's any different in a smaller city but maybe maybe it is different maybe somebody will say so.

Thank you. The House the House campaign last year brought in eighty nine thousand dollars. Now well about 77 net $77000 net net include a campaign where in part the schools the kids took on them too. Thank you very much Ed that Chicago. I'd like to make just make this point. That was made by it toward the end of that comment. There may be and a tendency among people to say well what you can do in Chicago I can do it in in Brown the guy in Chicago says what you can do in Brownville but you can't do it because in the vernacular Bologna the biggest the first job I ever really had an assignment fundraising with a raise two and a half million dollar Manhattan door to door. In less than $1 a $1 less. It wasn't easy but we did it and did it much more quickly than I can raise

$25000 voted on that. So don't get carried away by assumption which I think you'll find a great carryover as we go from the larger to the smaller communities at this time I'd like to introduce to Tampa Florida which is a community support station on the leadership of a very enthusiastic and vital gentleman but unknown to most of us this thing about officially you Leeroy are blasting the general manager of station the edu campaign where you are the greatest misdirection that we had in the beginning as far as fundraising is concerned that we were trying to go after the big go in ours. So back to Don's point. Broaden your base this is what we are attempting to do. We anticipate greater success with us all the time. We're trying to contact everybody everybody who might have any money. And I'd like to apologize to the group it may be necessary for me to leave the conference early because our business manager has just called me and told me that he has heard. That a

blind the widow woman 93 years old who is in a wheelchair has just received her social security check and I must go get. It. She's. Also our friend had pointed out that whereas they use more or less a monthly campaign we use the monthly campaign also. However. I would say that that job is 8 12 months a year job. It is an 18 hour a day job. I'm reminded of the fact that the husband came home and found his wife in an intimate situation with a stranger and he said to the stranger what are you doing here. The stranger said everybody has got to be someplace. And so many times at night when I mother. How many times at night when I'm out. With these various organizations. I feel that I've got everybody in our

station has got to be someplace and most of us are out looking for money. All of you use actual techniques many of you. Of the community side stations that we are should be up here telling these other people about what you're doing. However I would like to share three specifics two direct and one indirect. We found that the parent teacher associations in our coverage area of which there are 400 locals. Had provided excellent support to the schools in the purchase of television sets for the classrooms. Some of these parent teacher associations are by standards in our area. Fairly wealthy and budgets. So we decided that perhaps we could involve them with the station and thus at the present time we have something less than $5000 membership in 1964 at twenty five

dollars per local unit from the Parent Teachers Association in our area. With a 400 potential that's ten thousand dollars that's not a lot of money. To some of you. It's a lot of money to others as far as we're concerned. If we can tap this full $10000 potential it's just $10000 more than we would have otherwise. We are we are giving them something in return. Not only have we in the 1964 year almost realized $5000 from the source. This year we anticipate about 7000 and next year 9000. This helps also to broaden the base and that in the past the people who were involved in the PTA these parents the fathers and mothers thought of their work there by buying up television sets as being something connected with the school. However I approached the

state the Florida State Congress president of all the associations and farted. And received a statement from her which is mailed out to the local units which relieves them of any concern about this type of thing being against PTA policies. Basically her letter simply states. That. It can be done. Under the PTA objectives. And I mention a couple to promote the welfare of children and you can home school church and community second to raise the standards of home life. And the last objected to have to develop between educators and the general public such united efforts as will secure for every child the highest advantages in physical etc etc.. Therefore. They are not only helping. Their school but now they feel involved. As a part of the station on the basis of their community and social life. And they are they now feel that they're helping to support the community programming that we do. This is one example.

Another one I don't know how successful it's going to be but we have just discovered. And I think this year we should receive somewhere a minimum of around $2000 from the source. The thing that made me think of it was the fact that I ran into one of my good friends on the street one day a fellow I have known all my life. I've seen him at times when he had a great deal of money and out of times when he had none I thought perhaps this would be a time when he had some money I didn't know how I made his money. But come to find out he goes to the dog races every day and he didn't have any money. When I had him up for a membership for an organization by the way we were sold on the idea of membership. We want to broaden. So I couldn't stay out of the membership because we didn't have the money. But I began to think that the place where he spent his money. Might possibly have some funds. And so we're hitting the dog tracks the horse tracks the highlight all the parimutuel outfits including the racetracks because they have their

scholarship days. They have their community welfare days. And by golly it's the one time in life that I'll admit. To having anything to do with charities. I even don't mind they're including us on charity day. If we get a thousand or two thousand dollars out of this. Another example. And broadening our base and getting more members and involving people in our station something that has been most successful. And we feel has helped us to do that which we have done more than double our membership in recent months. We're fortunate in that we have a retired coach as our business manager. He is well known in the sports community. And we actually do sports programs. We feel justified in this because it's part of the education of the cultural life of the community.

On our Suncoast boards at 8:30. Every Thursday night in addition to having top people including all of the top coaches in Florida and from the southeastern United States at various times on the station. He also holds clinics short clinics in telling people about sports and letting wives know why they stand up and yell when somebody does something on the field. This has involved. The alumni. And for some reason or another there are some alumni who seem to have money and they can buy memberships for more than five or ten dollars a year. But here again. It's our sincere desire to try to broaden our base get more people interested in the station. Sometimes you've got to use a showmance gimmick to get it on if it's showing this game where the University of Tampa is going to beat the devil out of Maine. We're going to use that to get somebody to turn to channel 3 because they'll leave

it on and they'll see something else they like will come back and I'll become a member. Or they may enjoy the fact that we've beat Manning so badly that they will become a member. But we are videotaping that game and playing it all back it with cooperation from other educational television stations and commercial stations throughout the states of the state of Florida. We videotape and broadcast the whole of the more important homecoming football games. We broaden our base in this. And then these matters that I have just mentioned. We haven't been as successful in fund raising as we would like. But we expect to be back about more successful in the future. Thank you very much going out. May I just comment that I think you're going to have trouble with that tape. I think you're going to find that they had the bad because I don't know if they get you right but. I think if I may just take from Stringer's comment the concept that this is community involvement if you're trying to support

a television station with free will give. You're not going to make it have to be total community involved. The television space has to be more than a television station. It has to be a very important accepted part of that community as not a television station but as an agency or an attitude it has to be somewhere between the foundation I mean the Pittsburgh Symphony and home where one would have to be in there and the same kind of a level. But if there was a move made to move the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Pittsburgh or some other community the whole town would go up because he knows people who have never been to a pirate ball game would never go to a pirate ball game but they're not taking a pirate out with the painting all through the meal. If there was a movie becoming WQED to fail. The tower will go up and I have to feel that he did not fail because of intuition. An agency that is important to the community. If you haven't got that. Then you're not going to

really raise much money. It's got to be important to the community you have to play a part a community other than just what we could to from any television station this is an image that we must overcome. I take no great pride in the fact that we're television. I take it really I cried in the back. There were a very important community agency with an education orientation that this is where we might be we must band therefore we stay pretty much away from chemicals in our corporate thank you very much. Leroy for the smaller and I don't mean fall but smaller communities border station there now we find a uniqueness. There are many stations as you know about two thirds of the stations have that they support from our community support from either state support or from school support among the stations which are basically supported by by public appropriate. There are those who also find support involvement from community

sources and one of the leading of these stations is chaos in Denver and I think we're very fortunate to have with us from Kay Kay RNA in Denver to tell us how he publicly supported station involved itself in fundraising for private support for us. Thank you Don. Learn one thing today most every where I go I learn something about fund raising. I think I've just seen an operation the most likely prospect I've seen a long time to come. Then it's time we have a public meeting talk about fund raising and there's nobody other than. As you well realize a public school has a special problem but does for a great many years. As we went about asking for contributions. You get the psychology working against you. I paid my taxes. Why should I make a contribution. This is a real problem for you. We were at a distinct

advantage in Denver because the Denver Public Schools long prior to television had made strong commitments to free adult education the school system had been supporting the opportunity school in the neighborhood of 2 million dollars a year free education until we could capitalize on that. Which had been accepted by the community in using television as a very valid extension of free adult education. We are of the opinion that most TV stations whether they be school our state our community. Depend heavily on the tax supported dollars. And essentially and at least one respect. There is not much basic difference. Whether the money comes straight budgeted from the tax supported institutions or whether it now it comes in

directly for the performance of services by the station for tax supported institutions. Who then pays for that services by the tax dollars. Sooner or later in most cases the taxpayer has to be convinced that the expenditure of those tax dollars constitute a wise investment on his part. So as we see it for schools tracing the first step to take in gaining adequate community support is to do such a good job in instructional television that the taxpayer becomes convinced that this is a valid and effective and efficient way to achieving quality instructional programs that he says instructional television expenditures for the fine line that he sees expenditures for school auditorium for visual aids for better libraries and

we believe that such an attitude in this position on the part of the taxpayer. Is dependent upon the quality of the instructional programs present. It starts in the studio. It is not. We believe basically depend on newspaper stories PR or a pleasant manner. Their program produces interest or dissent a sense of accomplishment or one of frustration boosting or criticism and good or poor relationship. If the programs are good enough and significant enough. The chief source of the community support becomes more readily available. And of course a corollary for this group are the tax supported institutions. Yes. That is the image of the community. Of educational instruction is

greatly enhanced. By what they see. It's then an easy step for them to conclude that since such a great job is being done Larry the institution is probably doing a great job. Everything else. In Life is good here at Kerim ATV. We spent around numbers two hundred twenty five thousand dollars tax dollars in the operation of the station and a little over $200000 in the production of the program. We obtain about a hundred thirty five thousand dollars from other sources for our operation. We justify the expenditure of these tax dollars. As a wise Zarb who invests in bridging the regular school program. In all our efforts we have a size that over and over again with the addition that we are striving to have our community program financed

through contributions to the general community and further until this is completely not completely secret yet. And then too we do we defend expenditures of tax dollars and evening community programming as a valid desirable extension of free public education. And here too we think the emphasis has to be on better and better programming in our evening community. Our budget and we do feel we're getting success with it our budget for 1966 has now been publicly presented and it calls for almost a 50 percent increase in tax dollars and we have until this is I have little or no opposition voiced to the resort on our fund raising as a responsibility of a separate incorporated body the Council for Education Television Channel 6 and corporate. Most of the membership of this group consists of

educational nonprofit cultural groups in the area. But recently we have added individual memberships so that we could include leaders of business and industry. And this step was long overdue for five years we existed without that and this was a bad mistake and a great step. The purpose of this council is to raise money for community evening programs and we make a careful distinction between tax dollars going for in school instructional television and no dollar contributed to us goes to instructional television it all goes to community programs. And once the community can see this distinction we were making great progress. And many of our problems are solved. This council stumble about for We've been in existence 10 years stumble about for our first half. Because of poor Tim is a pseudonym because the people had had no experience in the fund raising before

but after one of the fine architects of our city became president crowd out some of the so-called volunteer workers hired two full time year round lorries. Took a trip to some of these stations represented at the head table to find out how they operated our progress has been rapid and most gratifying. We've cooperated with this council for 10 years now on the basis of that cooperation with them. We would offer some generalizations and they would be one fund raising is a learned skill. You can't be haphazard about it get any success. Too. It requires detail organization and a small staff of year round work. Much time can be saved if each one of us does not try to rediscover America but visit other stations where they've

got to adapt and modify what you see. For years we've made a mistake I believe in setting goals too high and then we were faced with the embarrassment of explaining some fair has to be continuity in the administration of the campaign. Lastly in our case the mail solicitation continuing over a 12 month period for family membership has proven to be the most productive. We have a mailing list of some 20000 non members we have scrounged this list from society pages from other other organizations. These 20000 people will receive from our four mailings per year and in each mailing will be closed a remittance on the local. Periodic leeway to publish a monthly schedule. And in that scheduling closing membership you. Don't know whether it applies to lower altitudes or not but we have detected

there must be some relationships that are out to between the color of ink and the response you get. Amazing thing but deep purple ink and we've conducted a little survey giving us better responses almost to the bottom of the coloring. I don't want to buy the book but we've also learned that going to the added cost of hand addresses typing and doing all of the personal approach in our letters the added cost did not pay and we have got the form letter approach and drop our mail solicitation occurs throughout the year. But during one month of the year we carry on our program of special emphasis and special attention with posters with commercial TV stations running 60 seconds. So I should at the Denver Post gives us a great helping hand during this

during that month seven or eight times. They will write a story of the programming of the station and print a membership coupon beside the star. During that month over half of the money we get comes in on the Denver Post. One last point about mail solicitation. We have continuing arguments as we did on many other points as to whether or not we should get definite categories for contributions. And again we ran a story on our little study on that point and found that if we gave categories we got almost double the response with almost three times the amount of money coming in. Besides our mail solicitation and our special month of emphasis on it. With attempt to get contributions from business and industry. We still need big money and it is from corporations from foundations and then during this coming

Midwinter we are for the first time getting into this program. And here we are you kind of feel. That more important than what is said is perhaps who says. So we are working with a program over individual business executives call on other individual Exactly. I brought along up here and I still leave them at the end of the program. Sort of the word. Flyers and brochures cards on the lot. Everything we produce and send out here there are about 25 of each of these which if they would be of any assistance to you why you pick them up. Program Don't be surprised. If they look quite similar to Chicago's campus or someone you know. We've researched this matter pretty carefully. We're not a plagiarist. We didn't copy from anyone we help you out.

Thank you so much for us. Denver is known as the Mile High City the mountain. I might also say we now know that the standards are extremely high. I'd like to say publicly I have nothing but the greatest respect for Rush and for Kay RNA which has proven to be one of the outstanding stations in the country not only in its administration and in its standards but in its programming and what Ruff had to say. I'm sure my colleagues on the other by the table would whole happily agree and you bet I had also that unless you are programming well both in the instructional area and in the ad and general areas then what we're talking about is all pro-law you want Ray to rate any money you must produce a product and it must be a very high caliber. One other comment I want to make maybe we have a minute to question. Every once in a while someone says to me we take great pride in the fact that we don't spend any money to raise our money. When anyone says that I'd like to see the balance sheet because they aren't raising any money it takes money to raise money but it takes it in the proper proportion. And

Tom Pete we can remember this I guess in spades. Four years ago it would be QED in Pittsburgh. We had arranged one hundred forty seven thousand dollars on an expenditure of about twenty or twenty one thousand dollars. We sat down and took a look at this. And by adding just $8000 to the twenty one thousand dollars we raised two hundred fifty three thousand dollars and now we're adding another 11000. We'll be going to three hundred ten thousand dollars. This is a very serious business like approach. You must take in raising money take no great pride in the fact that you're not raising much money but you know it's been a much either your expenses should run somewhere in the general area or up from seven to 12 percent when they get above 12 toward 50. Then you begin to lose on the on the return or the depreciation back is coming in. But don't just spend the money it had to be spent wisely but if you put a $7000 person on your staff this

hypothetical and give them another two or $3000 work with you got that right person they're going to bring you somewhere three thirty five thousand one hundred fifty thousand dollars. But you won't get it by right now. Let us all make an announcement on the. Other questions I want to make one comment please do. Right now I just want to comment on something Russ said I. Disagree so strongly with only one point and since you Doris what Russ said I think is important to say. I just absolutely disagree. But you can do a an intelligent fundraising program without a strong public the program to support it. Oh I don't think I think you know I don't think I've been said all right. I think you've got to have the innate have to be there to any involvement have to be there all the things but then that won't do it. As I said in a very beginning the only way you get your ass for being if you have a great if you do well. Other question you'd like to ask is anyone at all fighting mad you want to make a film you know dawn. I think I think that's actually me I get asked this question a lot. You got paid and they gave you a hundred

dollars. This is what you expect from him. Adam Adam how do you get up to 500. I ask openly because I think we need to. Hear. That's right. If I had let me hold out just a thought provoker if I had 5000 people in the Pittsburgh area I would come to our station and say I will I will join your station as a member we don't believe in membership either frankly. But this is some antics in a way but I will give you $500. For a membership to WQED and you never asked me for any more money I have 5000 will

give you five hundred dollars apiece while I touch it. No I would not take it. I'm an old alumni secretary of my university. There's been many alumni association and you know the old it's all down the drain on a thousand dollar life membership of all that give you a thousand dollars for Life Membership the university alumni association can give you $1000 every year. You know I'm every every every year that we do this with the corporations in Chicago we re-evaluate their cash position their net position and as a new quarter as a new quarter as a side note when I say cash position I'm not kidding because this year we're asking some people who've been giving us 500 to give us fifteen hundred and we have a good reason for doing because they've had a good year. I don't think this is the reason that we that we we are opposed to membership type campaigns. There is an old expression in The Gunfighters parlance about stay and loose and I think you've got to stay loose when you're raising money and see what these guys are capable of given you and get the

maximum. And don't don't don't pay attention the last record you go to you go to Mancy says Well what of what International Harvester giving you say well. Master gave us twenty five hundred dollars last year but this year we got Ford Foundation money where we get 75 cents for every for every every buck you give us an International Harvester gave us $5000 this year and we want you to give us. We want you to give us two thousand stead of 1000. You make a mistake if you're given a certificate and all that jazz because that's that's sitting up there on our wall facing up and her saying Oh I gave them a hundred bucks last year and I got a certificate for that. The only prize the only prize you get when life is over with is the same kind of box everybody else gets. Let's let's get the most out of these people. Yeah Leo I want to be a comma holder please I will get to you or I'd like to say amen to what it has said here that certainly we have to endure. And with the times. But by the same token I would like to point out that in our area of a million or so people I would rather have.

100000 numbers at $5 each than a thousand numbers at $500 each. I think I got it but I'm kind of like any other understanding that we got to take broad based up against either candidate especially. Yes and by the way they talk about giving certificates I'm just running right now what type we're going to give the Ford Foundation I think as a definition all would be printed on paper that will not last too long. Why oh why. Over here we are. Let me make one comment that I think is important. Unless you'll build into your planning. Your fundraising philosophy your your your approach and let your delight in the very beginning all of T.K. $60 transmitter New York not going to any good.

Everyone gets carried away with hardware first and then second they get free programming and then eventually have to get on the air and suffer they stop talk about fundraising. Too late need to be built in the very beginning. Ed I tell you what I would do if I wasn't on the air and I was trying to build a case I would. I would borrow money from other people's books and I would also be taking a leaf from Ross's book I would I would spell out what I was going to do for this community I think this is what you got to pitch you got a pitch. What it is is being done elsewhere and what is it you are planning to do. That's going to give your community something that they don't now have. And this is again a function not just of what you are not just a calling on people but your community image program your publish the program where you say these are the things that are going to be available to us. These are the wonderful things are going to have and you'll get a very warm response to this because as I go across the territory that I live in they say thank God for what you're doing and thank heavens that there are that that you're able to supply us with with better programs for our kids in school

and better things for us to watch in the evening without the without the commercials now we don't make a point of the noncommercial aspect of this thing. But they pick it up from you. And if you can show them and you're going to be doing things in your community that nobody else is doing in advance and you make a program and you stick to it you'll find they'll remember it and they'll support we need to get away from the hand to mouth attitude. Grazie aid budget one year at a time. Hope we will come out without a deficit. You've got. I'll be on with you if my approach is concerned. Ah but if you listen to me of that before I let it be yeah it will be eight hundred forty five thousand dollars. I'm not as concerned about that as I am knowing that my budget in three years must be a million too and I'm not going to count all of it. So I raise my money so that I'm going to be raising a million to three years away I'm not just trying to find eight hundred forty five thousand a year if I did I would be born again every year. And twice in a lifetime. Question.

Yeah. Middle September the middle of October. Ours is ours is the month of March March all of February. Why cares. When. You don't eat him. But let me say that it's well to tell these people what you're going to do but you better go someplace else and find out what you can do before you promise the people in your community what you will do because you can't always do what you think you can do until you are certain that it is being done someplace else and can be done. What I mean by that space epically What can you

do for this group for programming you better see what happens other places. Right. Here. Right. Here. What. Cereal you work. You need more material Let me just say that you don't need an organization and the organization is not you and the organization other community leaders educational governmental industrial business social the whole bit. You need an organization that is completely sold on this concept who will help organize a fundraising effort with some good professional help. On the face unless you've got these people the brochures won't mean much if you've got these people in this group will be some wonderful public relations an advertising people who will make their initial contribution by helping you set up a good substantial promotion kind of program and you get off a good strong start. Your problem then becomes to Hurleys people after the novelty wears off.

And you thought losing them and the way not to lose them is to follow Ross excellent advice keep your programming so high they can't do without you. And then there was the newspaper the other I don't watch a lot of there are the business section in the rap about this whole organization away from ground impact of L.. But there are other. Yes. Right. Well I think that's a matter that will have to be discussed by the old and the Ford

Foundation idea not common in that area I know what you're fighting but you're probably. Right. That most of us got started with a grant. And when I read your book again Arbuckle Foundation put up I think it was about a hundred thousand dollars to get started with and we went and Polly got hundred thousand into a hundred thousand gold. Yeah. Yes. Right. Already got the study done renewal of membership or order up program. Most people well this is our first year with the program guide but our renewals on our renewals on on gifts by mail is about 76 percent very high very high percent are given

the. Right answer that we're in Sacramento we run about 80 to 85 percent renewal on a membership base. Yes. Is there anyone present all receive based support or any great support from either united fun community chest or not Council. Well I just want to I just want to tell you that that my from my knowledge of the St. Louis experience and from my knowledge of United fund raising in general. The best thing you people can do is to stay the hell out of United funds and stay out of arts councils because they're going to cripple you. Don't get involved and I think you make a great mistake if you do. Remember I didn't say that he did but I damn right I do not understand others. But we hope that this event of some value.

And frankly stimulating rather than discouraging Joy is the main thing to remember is there is no easy way after the satisfaction and results like great. But it takes an awful lot of doing to get it right. Thank you very much for joining us here this. Hour.