cohort participants · 2019-01-22 · 1 1 cohort participants 1. kbft –nett lake, mn - george...

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Cohort Participants

1. KBFT – Nett Lake, MN - George Strong, GM, Billie Isham, Education Director

2. KRTS – Marfa, TX - Elise Pepple, GM, Lisa Kettyle, Office Manager

3. KTNA - Talkeetna, AK - Corinne Smith, GM, Phillip Manning, News Producer

4. KWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA - Amanda Eichstaedt, Station Mgr / Board Liaison

5. KWSO - Warm Springs, OR - Sue Matters, Station Mgr, Brutis Baez, Operations Mgr

6. KZUM - Lincoln, NE - Kerry Semrad, GM, Ryan Evans, Program Director

7. WERU - East Orland, ME - Matt Murphy, GM, Heather Andrews, Development Dir

8. WMMT - Whitesburg, KY - Elizabeth Sanders, GM, Rachel Garringer, PAffairs Dir

9. WNCU - Durham, NC - Lackisha Freeman, GM, Uchenna Owens, Development Dir

10. WTIP – Grand Marais, MN - Matthew Brown, ED, Staci Drouillard, Development Dir

11. WXPR – Rhinelander, WI - Jessie Dick, Station Mgr, Mackenzie Martin, Features Rptr

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ParticipantsKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

George Strong, General ManagerBillie Isham, Education Director Bois Forte Tribal

GovernmentDarren Landgren, Communications Coordinator

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Who do you serve? What do you offer?KBFT – Nett Lake, MN

KBFT serves the Native American community of Nett Lake, Minnesota on the Bois Fort Indian reservation in remote Northern Minnesota. Along with our local over the air broadcast KBFT is a voice that also serves a membership of 3500 enrolled members of Bois Forte across the world through other media channels like the Internet. KBFT provides news and Community Information along with weather updates throughout the day. KBFT engages our local community through events that feature and support Local, Regional and National Native Artists, Musicians and Authors. KBFT has many ties to our community through civic & social engagement on a professional and personal interest.

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Inspire and create actionable engagementKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

InitiativeOur Tribal Council created a class of volunteers to get them to participate in other community groups by compensating them and now it's very difficult for us or any other group to recruit true "Volunteers" ….they could benefit from their time "volunteering" or at least having an interest in public media not just necessarily from our radio operations but from learning the skills and hands on experience in the Media Industry. I feel through effective targeting and different approaches that we could inspire true involvement from our community members….

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ProfileKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

• License and Level: Tribal, C

• Time in the CSG program - 5 years

• Economic Development – Stable

• Estimated Coverage Population – 325; Percent Listeners - 30%, Rural

– Census data for Koochiching County estimates Native American population is 338

– Census data for St. Louis County estimates Native American population is 4,800

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More ProfileKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

• Content Mix - We program our own mix according to a set Preference broken down my hour and day part. Native American Contemporary Artist with consideration for genre and appropriate time of day. Country/Pop/Rock n Roll/Blues for the day hours and Metal/Alternative in the evenings and overnights. We emphasis Women musicians regardless of genre with priority to Native Americans. Secondly we program those "alternative" musicians not normally heard on popular radio and we ad at least one local non native musician(s) song every other hour.

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Content - ProgrammingKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

Top Local Programs1. Rez Rockin Radio - Music Only2. The Deep End - DJ'ed Music3. The Drift – Hosted Variety

• Local Programming – 65 hours/week, ~ 40%

Top Syndicated Programs1. Native America Calling -News/Talk2. Morning Edition - News3. Science Fridays – Talk

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Content – More ProgrammingKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

• Work with Youth - We bring artists musicians and writers to talk with our community youth during school classes. We are able to work with our Tribal Youth Center should we be able to sponsor activities.

• Shared Programming - We share a lot of programming through the Association of Minnesota Public & Educational Radio Stations (AMPERS)

• Emergency Preparedness - We are tied into our Tribal Emergency Preparedness Office and feel prepared to know our role during different type of emergency/natural disaster communications. We know our contacts and we are aware of the systems they utilize for getting official information via the proper channels.

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Content – Website & Social MediaKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

• Streaming – 7 years• Website Updates - usually new content is posted daily in one section or

another• Social Media – FB 1170, Twitter 21, Instagram 13• Social Media posting - Daily mostly Facebook then Instagram and Twitter less

often• More info about Social Media - We are a remote station that has limited

internet access for listeners and lower income to afford reliable connections. Often our listeners change their mobile internet account due to cheap lower quality handsets that require them to buy totally new systems and reregister all their technology accounts.

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Content – Strengths & ChallengesKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

Strengths– Focus on Youth– Focus on Elders– Focus on Culture

Challenges– Consistency– Community Involvement– Probably Audio editing and

production skills in community– Perhaps Culture– Our Location, availability legal

barriers

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EngagementKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

• Methods (other) - email lists . . . we also have text messaging available and location based advertising through Marketron.

• Events – In the previous 3 years KBFT built a reputation for hosting 3 Community events per month and this year we planned 1 similar type of event per month but putting the remaining funds towards hosting larger Regional events once every 3 months.

• Regular Feedback - … this is what we need help with and our desire to be part of this CCI program. So we can learn from others.

• Emerging group - WE are a very small community. so it's really hard to say if they're emerging at all other than simply big part of our community.

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Engagement – Strengths & ChallengesKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

Strengths– Reach out to visibly funded

health & social causes

Challenges– Expectations– Beyond metrics– how does it equate to

memberships or ownership sense

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RevenueKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

• Annual Operating Budget - $325,000

• Software Tools – Access and Excel

• Membership database – 3 years of data

• Number of Pledge Drives – 1, end of year

• Number of Grants - 2 regularly but we have targeted 3 that would be appropriate with a strong likelihood of approval.

• Reserve Fund – No

• Appealing to new donors - We need major help developing this area of Development

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Revenue – Breakout by TypeKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

• Breakout by Type:– Membership 1%– Underwriting 6%– Grants 34%– CSG 53%– Other 6%

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Revenue – Strengths & ChallengesKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

Strengths– Research

Challenges– Donations– Membership - What is it? Why?– Sponsorships - Packaging it

properly

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Organizational CapacityKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

• Strategic Plan – No

• Benefits to Employees – Yes

• Other Organizations - Native Public Media, Greater Public, NV1, NPR

• Solution Center - I've use almost all examples and tailored them to our needs.

I used nearly all examples or at least considered them. The Solution Center is

a treasure trove for new stations especially. Although I have not perused the

offerings lately to see if anything has been updated.

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Capacity – Strengths & ChallengesKBFT – Nett Lake, MN

Strengths– evaluating personnel– adjusting goals to fit skill sets– provide the best tools– find similar based experiences

for success– Network Research Training

Challenges– limited experience– limited skills– limited history

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ParticipantsKRTS – Marfa, TX

Elise Pepple, General Manager

Lisa Kettyle, Office Manager

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Who do you serve? What do you offer?KRTS – Marfa, TX

Broadcasting across 30,000 square miles of Far West Texas, Marfa Public Radio’s

signal passes through immense country. Separated from each other like islands,

are communities—each with a sense of itself as strong and singular as the next.

With distance comes differences, but also the chance to make connections. The

worlds that collide here include: the border, ranching, art, oil and gas, and

tourism. Marfa Public Radio is a mixed format station that broadcasts both

national programming and local programming. We broadcast to an area the size

of the state of South Carolina. Our motto is "radio for a wide range".

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Celebrate StorytellingKRTS – Marfa, TX

Initiative …bring live storytelling events to our region as a way of celebrating all voices, all stories, and all types of experiences. I also am working on a grant to create a mobile recording booth so that we can collect the oral histories of our region and broadcast them as a regular segment. …Because of our location and because our station team members are almost all new to their roles, we need support to figure out how best to operate.

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ProfileKRTS – Marfa, TX

• License and Level: Community, A & B• Time in the CSG program – 12 years• Economic Development – The economic development climate is wildly

different in our service area. Marfa is mainly a tourist driven economy … The town of Presidio … has few economic development opportunities, Midland and Odessa are the seat of oil and gas development… We have members who easily give at higher levels but we are not seeing the boom in terms of membership numbers. We … have strong foundation support in Midland…

• Estimated Coverage Population – 18,000 + 300,000, Rural

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Content - ProgrammingKRTS – Marfa, TX

Top Local Programs1. Oldies2. Honky Tonk3. Blues Monday

• Local Programming – 35 hours/week, ~ 20%

Top Syndicated Programs1. ME2. ATC3. Texas Standard

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Content – ProgrammingKRTS – Marfa, TX

• Content Mix – News & Information dominant with some music, Syndicated (dominant) with some locally-produced. Our locally produced news & information content mostly lives in local news. These are usually 3-7 minute features that take 40 hours of staff time to produce. I'd like to figure out how we can have more local content that requires less production but speaks to our listeners.

• Local Music Collaboration - We collaborate with the two big music festivals that come to town. We host one or two concerts through the station every year but we are not collaborating with local musicians. We would like to partner with more local organizations. Currently we are the way local orgs get the word out but we do not consider this collaboration.

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Content – More ProgrammingKRTS – Marfa, TX

• Work with Youth – We run a summer radio camp for one week. We historically taught a semester-long radio class in the high school. But we stopped teaching this class in the last year …. It was run by interns and part time staff and we needed to allocate more staff time and station funding to do this class well.

• Collaborative with other Non-Profits: we collaborate with other texas stations on sharing news content. ….never know how to collaborate well (with non-profits) with 8 different towns and their organizations.

• Emergency Preparedness – Concerned. Fires are big. We cover emergencies in the Big Bend but not in Midland and Odessa. Again a question of how we serve an area that is 30,000 square miles.

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Content – Website & Social MediaKRTS – Marfa, TX

• Website Users - 59.812 web sessions in Q3 (3 month period)• Website Updates - every day. everyone does it.• Email Subscribers: 5,000• Email Frequency: once a month if things go as planned and sporadically for

fun announcement• Social Media – FB 11,965, Twitter 8,511, Instagram 11.1K (used to be 4,000)• Social Media posting - there is no schedule but we post regularly. Twitter

every day, Facebook every other day, Instagram 2x a week.• Video - almost never but people really loved when we FB lived from the

wildfires and Tornillo

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Content – Programming & VolunteersKRTS – Marfa, TX

• Program Changes – We did a survey and made a bunch of changes last year based on listener feedback.

• Program Challenges– No Program Director– Lack vision resulting in ‘boring’ sound– Not providing feedback

• Volunteers: 22 volunteers, 20 DJ’s. Estimate 35% new, 65% returning

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EngagementKRTS – Marfa, TX

• Events – We do a live storytelling series both in Marfa and surrounding towns. People here love it but in other towns we have mixed success. We do… our Valentine's Love Drive where people send in messages to loved ones and Diade los Muertos testimonials … honoring our dead. We started working w Of/By/For All, an initiative with Nina Simon to make institutions better at engagement but … don't have time to do engagement the way I would like to…

• Regular Feedback - We have done one community survey and when we did strategic planning we interviewed 40 community members and had 30 people in the room. But I would like to figure out a way to regularly get feedback..

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Engagement – Strengths & ChallengesKRTS – Marfa, TX

Strengths– Two engagement road trips

literally from the US/Mexico border to the Permian Basin so that we can visit with more communities

– Dia de los Muertos testimonials and Love Drive

– Live Storytelling

Challenges– Little time to plan/engage– Managing efforts between many

communities – Staff are all newcomers to the

area– We don't speak Spanish and lack

the time to learn

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RevenueKRTS – Marfa, TX

• Annual Operating Budget - $1,002,000• Software Tools - Blackbaud’s eTapestry• Membership database size – 4,783• Membership database – 3 years of data• 12-Month Donors - 1232 donors this year // $329588.44 rec'd total // avg =

$267.52, 74 more donors than the previous year • 12-Month New vs. Returning Donors - New donors: 388, Returning donors:

844, 31.5% new/ 68.5% returning

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More RevenueKRTS – Marfa, TX

• 12-Month Underwriters: 49 (includes 14 annual + 35 one-time) • Average Underwriting Amount: $2,605 for all , $3,203 for annual contracts or

$267 per month• Number of Pledge Drives – 2 that last 5 days, added Giving Tuesday• New Activities: We added Giving Tuesday. We added a major donor event in

Midland. We added bring KCRW here which increased revenue.• Number of Grants - 20• Reserve Fund – No• Appealing to new donors - We did create language and goals for new donors

this year. That appeal was used during drive…also did an acquisition campaign

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Revenue – Breakout by TypeKRTS – Marfa, TX

• Breakout by Type:– Membership 32%

– Car Donations 1%

– Special Events 1%

– Underwriting 1%

– Grants 36%

– CSG 25%

– Other - Merchandise 2%

– Other – Tower Rental 1%

• Included in Membership: Sustainer, Major Giving and Direct Mail

• Sustainer Program is 19% of Membership

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Revenue – Strengths & ChallengesKRTS – Marfa, TX

Strengths– writing a lot of grants and for big

money– events that highlight the culture of

our station and town: A night of Marfa in Midland

– experiment: sister station relationship which cultivated major giving

– experiment: engaging tourists as members to an area that has low population density, developing a visitor podcast to reach these potential members

Challenges– no development staff – previously

had a success underwriter sales person

– no time to steward relationships– bandwidth– lack of applicant pool

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Organizational CapacityKRTS – Marfa, TX

• Strategic Plan – We created it in Feb 2018. We will reassess this month with our board. The problem I have with the documents that came out of it is that they are practical roadmaps but not a vision.


• Other Organizations - NPR, AIR

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Capacity – Strengths & ChallengesKRTS – Marfa, TX

Strengths– Producer residency at the station.

Most of our visitors lead workshops for our staff around reporting, interviewing, and production.

– Strategy: Implementing strategic planning with all staff, board, community stakeholders, and public media professionals to get us all on the same page.

– Radio Think Tank for the station which is comprised of many public media leaders and innovators so that our station can be up on best practices.

Challenges– Focusing on what is urgent rather than

what is important.– Experience level: I am new to this role.

Our staff are mostly all in their 20's and this is their first professional experience.

– Lack of thought partners, people to help brainstorm, discuss, and implement high level plans.

– Lack of management skills.

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ParticipantsKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

Corinne Smith, General Manager

Phillip Manning, News Producer

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Who do you serve? What do you offer?KTNA - Talkeetna, AK

Talkeetna Community Radio provides a broad base of educational, cultural, and informative programming to enrich and connect the community in the upper Susitna Valley. We meet that mission through radio, website, live streaming of our broadcast, and social media. The Susitna Valley is a rural area in south-central Alaska with several unincorporated communities. Approximately 4,500 full-time residents live within the broadcast radius, but the population swells substantially in the summer to support a vibrant tourist economy. KTNA’s reach is worldwide: over 350 people stream the broadcast online weekly, 3400 access the website each month, and 3100 follow KTNA on social media. KTNA presents a wide variety of programming twenty-four hours every day, drawing from National Public Radio, Alaska Public Radio Network, and other national and independent program distributors. Beyond national news and cultural programs, KTNA offers local news, educational and informative programming, music with local DJs, and continuous emergency broadcast capacity. We have a dedicated corps of volunteers and they produce local music shows and read newscasts fifteen times a week. KTNA celebrates 25 years on-air in 2018.

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Community Story Telling ProgramKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

InitiativeWe've been laying the groundwork to start a community story telling program. We envision recorded and staged interviews with local people. We've had initial discussions with the local historical society and arts council about partnering with us. Last spring we hosted a training on interview techniques that staff and over a dozen volunteers attended. We believe this program would engage a broader audience in our area, provide interesting and entertaining content, and expand the interview and production skills of our volunteers. The Community Counts initiative would be invaluable for planning and technical assistance, developing a funding stream, and providing some seed funding.

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ProfileKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

• License and Level: Community, A

• Time in the CSG program – about 20 years

• Economic Development – Parts of our area are experiencing population growth with new businesses, but this is not uniform across our area. Some new residents and businesses have become members or underwriters but overall, we have not been impacted. Our state has an unstable economic climate currently, which does affect a state-level giving ‘program’ and our state grant.

• Estimated Coverage Population – 4,800; Percent Listeners - 50% (total guess but maybe accurate if website & social media included), Rural

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Content - ProgrammingKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

Top Local Programs1. local music shows

Local Programming – 20 hours music; 8 hours news & announcements + 1 hour public affairs call-in show, ~ 17%

Top Syndicated Programs1. Science Friday – did well last spring when we brought it

back

2. This is a little difficult to quantify because many of our drives do not include the entire week.

3. local do better than syndicated

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Content – More ProgrammingKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

• Content Mix – 60 – 40 split News – Music, Syndicated (dominant) with some locally produced.

• Local Music Collaboration - we are working more with local musicians and venues to highlight and interview local and visiting musicians on a local show we produce most Fridays afternoons.

• News Programming: Our reporters contribute to the statewide public radio news network.

• Emergency Preparedness – The ability to gather and share news and information is not a concern, but the ability to broadcast if we should not be able to use the station is. Also our location sometimes makes it difficult to reach scenes of emergencies.

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Content – Website & Social MediaKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

• Streaming – 12+ years

• Website Users - 356 unique visitors per week

• Website Updates - Various staff update the site daily with news posts, announcements, and calendar events.

• Email Subscribers: 426, Email Frequency: Monthly on average

• Social Media – FB 3167, Twitter 1407, Instagram (don’t use)

• Social Media posting - FB: 1 – 3 daily, Twitter weekly

• Video - Facebook Live…musicians playing in the studio during membership drives. Last winter FB Live for several dog mushing race starts… Also used to promote local news for Giving Tuesday by showing Phillip reading the news as it was broadcast.

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Content – More Social Media & Digital KPIsKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

• More info about Social Media - We just tried our first Facebook Fundraiser for Giving Tuesday and were very underwhelmed. Not sure if that’s because of the GT overload or if FB makes more of its fundraisers than is warranted.

• Tracking digital Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)- We are tracking some metrics, mostly informally with tools in MailChimp (e.g. open rate), Google Analytics (e.g. how people get to the site), and Facebook (e.g. engagements).

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Content – Programming & VolunteersKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

• Program Changes – Mostly staff, sometimes CAB, and Program Director makes final decision. Have used a Facebook poll once for listener input and hope to use a programming survey this winter to inform other potential changes.

• Evaluating Programmers – There’s no formal process but we do give them feedback, both positive and negative, especially when they’re newer. They do have to make a demo before they’re given an on-air time slot so that gives the Program Director and the volunteer a good idea if they’re ready to go on air and what they may need to work on.

• Volunteers: Music DJs 21, News readers 20; There is some overlap in the list for on-air DJs. We also have volunteers to answer the phones and serve on committees and the board. 10% new, 90% returning.

• Software to Schedule Volunteers: Program director uses google calendar and excel spreadsheets to track & schedule volunteers.

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Content – Volunteer StrengthsKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

• Strengths– Current or former volunteers are the best recruiters– New volunteers go through studio training, take a quiz, make a demo, and

sign to signify that they’re read the volunteer manual.– Have volunteers in training sit in with another DJ or news reader during

their show.– Use radio announcements and promos to recruit volunteers

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Content – Strengths & ChallengesKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

Strengths– Having themed time slots through the

week, so listeners can expect news at certain times and music, especially local, at other times

– Group rates: We get discounts on NPR and APM programming through an Alaska-station deal, which has greatly reduced our costs, (but ironically has made it difficult to spend CPB funds)

– Daily announcements to highlight various local, state, and syndicated programs

– Emphasis on local talent and Alaska uniqueness

– Fairly stable program schedule so listeners can plan when to listen

Challenges– Coming up with local shows other than

music shows – it’s challenging to find volunteers with the right combination of time, skills, and interest and to have the staff support they need.

– Using CPB restricted funds and keeping a priority on local programming

– Music logging is a burden on our volunteers and staff.

– Listening and monitoring all volunteer shows

– Knowing what people listen to and like

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EngagementKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

• Events – Two main events targeted to members and volunteers – Annual Celebration in the winter (functions as a membership meeting) and an Annual Appreciation Picnic in the summer – are successful. We have an open house on our anniversary on January 17th which is not well attended. Last summer we had a booth in the park during a concert with records for sale, and residents and tourists came over; we considered it successful given it was a very rainy evening and will do again.

• Regular Feedback - We plan to do a programming survey this winter and a community meeting to find out how KTNA can serve the community better or differently.

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More EngagementKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

• Tracking Engagement Metrics: We’re tracking very loosely how many people attend and it’s primarily based on our memory of past events or our expectations.

• Strategic Partnerships: We recently formed the Three Rivers Alliance with three other non-profits. We are looking enhancing our community service and increasing sustainability of our organizations. We plan to work with two of these – Talkeetna Historical Society and Denali Arts Council – on our storytelling project with CCI. We also promote DAC shows through musician interviews and announcements. THS hosted a log cabin studio exhibit this year to celebrate KTNA’s 25 year anniversary and genesis in a small cabin.

• Emerging group - We do not have a plan but recruiting young adults is a priority for the board and CAB. Half of our staff is in this group, and they, volunteers, and board and CAB members are our liaisons.

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Engagement – Strengths & ChallengesKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

Strengths– Make events fun! Seems obvious but we

were surprised at how many more people came to our annual meeting when it included a band and was set up more like a dance party. And people actually renewed their memberships and made donations for the band. Our motto now is ‘less meeting, more party.’

– We leverage our airwaves by trading PSAs with other organizations to be a sponsor of events or to be advertised at their venue.

– Similarly, we trade ad space on our website, too.

Challenges– Staff and volunteer capacity to engage

listeners and members– We serve four communities and the

geographic distance between us (15 to 45 miles) makes it difficult to conduct in-person outreach and events.

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RevenueKTNA - Talkeetna, AK


• Software Tools - Excel

• Membership database size – 1050 with many lapsed more than 5 years

• Membership database - 15 years. This current database has limited functionality and we plan to migrate to a better system this winter.

• 12-Month Donors - About 400 which is slightly higher than a year ago

• 12-Month New vs. Returning Donors - New members or donors is probably less than 10%. The most popular annual membership level is $88.9, and many sustainers are at $8.89 or 10 per month. We can’t calculate an average easily but think it’s around $100.

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More RevenueKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

• 12-Month Underwriters: 15 current (5 seasonal expired)• Average Underwriting Amount: $165.50 per month• Number of Pledge Drives – 3 • Number of Grants - 6• New Activities - KTNA Game Show – live show with public radio inspired

games; Split-the-pot raffle• Reserve Fund – Yes• Appealing to new donors - We thank current and lapsed donors for their

support with letters and cards and send them renewal reminders. We are thinking about how to reach new donors and members.

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Revenue – Breakout by TypeKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

• Breakout by Type:– Membership 16%– Special Events 1%– Underwriting 9%– Grants 29%– CSG 44%– Other 1%

• Sustainer Program accounts for 46% of Membership

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Revenue – Strengths & ChallengesKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

Strengths– Emphasis on sustaining memberships.– Don’t let events outlive their shelf life.– Personal communications to thank

members and volunteers through letters and cards and sending renewal reminders.

Challenges– State grant is uncertain with the unstable

state economy.– This is not a wealthy area so there’s a limit

to what people can give through memberships, donations, and at events.

– Making the case to some local businesses is difficult because they have little competition and may be appealing more to tourists outside our area.

– Local government grants have been decreasing due to decrease in state funds.

– Not sure how to appeal to new members.

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Capacity – Strengths & ChallengesKTNA - Talkeetna, AK

Strengths– "Employ" the right people with

the right skills as staff, volunteers, and board

– Diversity of skills on the board– Training of volunteers

Challenges– Documentation of policies and

procedures– Age and relevancy of strategic

plan (2011)– Identification and tracking of

performance metrics– Compensating employees

adequately, including benefits

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ParticipantsKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

Amanda Eichstaedt, Station Manager and Board Liaison

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Who do you serve? What do you offer?KWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

Serve as a platform for all local people and organizations to tell their stories. Primary source of emergency information for local villages. Strive to be a neutral outlet for information to the communities of West Marin. Train and encourage participation from all sectors of the community.

InitiativeIncrease and identify quantifiable ways to look at engagement.

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Profile

KWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

• License and Level: Community, C

• Time in the CSG program – 11 years

• Economic Development – The economy in Marin county is doing well,

property values are very high and long-time residents are selling, retiring, etc.

New residents are part-time mostly. Housing is terribly hard to secure for

working people.

• Estimated Coverage Population – 14,000; Percent Listeners - Not sure. …about

9% donate, Rural

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Content - ProgrammingKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

Top Local Programs1. Happy Hour2. Hawaii Calling3. Swimming Upstream

Local Programming – 67 hours, ~ 40%

Top Syndicated Programs1. Highway of Heartaches, produced in SF, Honky Tonk2. On Being, Krista Tippett3. As it Happens from the CBC

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Content – More ProgrammingKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

• Content Mix – A pretty even blend of info and music, Locally-produced (dominant) with some syndicated.

• Local Music Collaboration - We do produce a few music events each year ourselves, and we also serve as media sponsor for other events.

• News Programming: We are beginning to work with other Northern California stations on content sharing.

• Work with Youth – We have a youth DJ Project that includes youth from the local schools and youth centers, and are also open to having kids from outside the area do internships and programming with us for school credit.

• Emergency Preparedness – We are known for our proactive emergency updates, and we also work closely with first responders and the disaster council, as well as Marin County Office of Emergency Services. Even though we have redundancies, I always worry that something will prevent us from being able to be on the air in a large scale disaster situation.

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Content – Website & Social MediaKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

• Streaming – 11 years• Website Users – 2500 - 4000• Website Updates - Several times per week, plus there are Twitter feeds that

automatically update.• Email Subscribers: 2875, Email Frequency: Weekly• Social Media – FB 2018, Twitter 1033, Instagram 945• Social Media posting - We use Hootsuite to schedule highlights and then do

fun stuff that comes up. Several times per week.

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Content – Programming & VolunteersKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

• Program Changes – We make changes as needed. We have a programming committee that meets monthly. The Program Director has final say. We also have an internal staff programming team that talks things through. Mostly the basis is on availability of programs and programmers. We work to put things in a logical place, especially if not weekly programs.

• Evaluating Programmers – Yes, we review programmers with the programming committee, quarterly a different batch is done. We review purely on what is heard going out over the airwaves.

• Volunteers: 90 plus volunteer programmers, 11 board members, and about 30 other staple volunteers that help with phones etc. A few new volunteers a year.

• Software to Schedule Volunteers: A few spreadsheets.

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Content – Volunteer StrengthsKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

• Strengths– Be open to everyone's perspective.– Be nice to people.– Trust them to do a good job.– Give them the tools to complete what you want them to do.– Thank them.

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Content – ChallengesKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

Challenges– Raising the quality of overall programming.– Not replicating what other stations in our area are broadcasting.

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EngagementKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

• Events – 6 to 7 events per year, including two pledge drives. We try to have one high dollar event, and several that are reasonably priced entry, or free.

• Regular Feedback - Our Advisory Board, feedback from the community ongoing, our board.

• Emerging group - Youth, Latino, tourists.

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Engagement – Strengths & ChallengesKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

Strengths– Show up– Be open to other organizations– Thank them for participating

with KWMR.

Challenges– Time to plan– Tracking results– Going beyond gut feelings

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RevenueKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

• Annual Operating Budget – about $400,000• Software Tools – Kindful, We use campaigns and designations in Kindful

(rather than source codes). Excel.• Membership database size – 5,166• Membership database - 15 years. • 12-Month Donors – 2,997• 12-Month New vs. Returning Donors - 53% retention rate• 12-Month Underwriters: 70, about the same• Average Underwriting Amount: $520

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More RevenueKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

• Number of Pledge Drives – 2 • Number of Grants – 7-10• New Activities - We are dropping our golf tournament because it is too much

work for the revenue now that key volunteers have moved out of the country. We are doing a 20th anniversary event since it's our 20th anniversary in 2019.

• Reserve Fund – Yes• Appealing to new donors - We process renewals, and thank our returning

donors. We also try to convert folks to sustainers regularly.

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Revenue – Breakout by TypeKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

• Breakout by Type:– Membership 20%– Sustainer Program 16%

– Stocks and Mutual Funds 3%

– Car Donations 1%– Special Events 7%

– Underwriting 11%– Grants 2%

– CSG 31%– Major Giving 10%

• Good example of all the categories tracked separately

• Sustainer Program accounts for 45% of Membership

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Revenue – Strengths & ChallengesKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

Strengths– Stay on top of all the processes– Make pledge drives fun and

interactive

Challenges– Planning beyond what we have

always done.

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Capacity – ChallengesKWMR - Point Reyes Station, CA

Challenges– Good planning– Bumping up development– Changing demographics in community

17

ParticipantsKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

Sue Matters, Station Manager

Brutis Baez, Operations Manager

2

Who do you serve? What do you offer?KWSO - Warm Springs, OR

KWSO provides the Warm Springs Indian Reservation of Oregon and our surrounding communities with quality radio programming that: delivers local news and information; promotes education, cultural knowledge and language preservation; and increases awareness of social, health and safety issues. We broadcast local content including: Public Service Announcements, Morning Newscasts, Daily short form news and public affairs programming, weekly job reports and powwow information and live read calendar mentions. We strive to provide information that folks find useful. Content and additional information is also pushed out online through our website and social media platforms.

3

Strengthen Capacities – One or Several KWSO - Warm Springs, OR

Initiatives Conduct a study on KWSO's impact in the community and create ongoing benchmarks for measuring effectiveness- How to monitize online efforts- How to build sustaining memberships- Grant funding for increased staffing- Purposeful planning for multimedia efforts that expand our broadcast work to more platforms and increased access - Train station manager successor(s)

4

ProfileKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

• License and Level: Tribal, C

• Time in the CSG program – 14 years

• Economic Development – On the Reservation we are in a decline. Regionally

its growing. Have to hustle more for business/underwriting support locally -

and do better looking regionally and telling our compelling story to potential

underwriters.

• Estimated Coverage Population – CPB Coverage Area Population is 23,047,

Rural

• Content Mix – News & Information dominant with some music. Locally-

produced (dominant) with some syndicated

5

Content –ProgrammingKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

• Format Comments – We definitely play more music than news - but the effort we put in at work is on news and information content. Also - our news magazines and newscasts are short form but repetitive. We think folks listen for the local news and info but also because our music programming is pretty broad and mainstream - since that’s who we compete with for listeners (mostly commercial stations)

• Top Syndicated Program - Native America Calling - talk show - NV1• Local Programming – 133 hours, ~80%• Local Music Collaboration - We do try and partner with our Museum & local

Pow Wows

6

Content – More ProgrammingKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

• News Programming: We do local news ourselves and post local stories on our website weekdays. We do have a regional news service that we use in local news casts. Mostly we use it for broadcast stories and not so much for online posts.

• Work with Youth – High School or college internships when the right kids come along.

• Emergency Preparedness – Yes - we are really really good at this.

7

Content – Website & Social MediaKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

• Streaming – about 8 years• Website Users – 1556, avg session 00:01:20• Website Updates - Every week day. Multimedia Journalist does it.• Social Media – FB 4067, Twitter 730 • Social Media posting - Daily• Video - We do Facebook Live occasionally but prefer to produce video. We

post on YouTube and have been trying to grow our subscribers to 1000 with the hope of monetizing it. We need to post more routinely – our frequency varies. We share videos of community events, …some short PSA videos & KWSO promos. We really want to do more of this but lack capacity = time to spend on the effort. https://www.youtube.com/user/KWSOradio/videos

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https://www.youtube.com/user/KWSOradio/videos

Content – More Social Media & Digital KPIsKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

• More info about Social Media - Facebook is big in our community. There is no local TV unless you pay for satellite TV – so we think YouTube/Videos are of interest. We’ve recognized this and have worked to walk the talk of incorporating multimedia efforts into our everyday lives – with the capacity and staff that we have.

• Tracking digital Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)- We do get data on website, social media, membership (online) but need help understanding how to use it. We can see what is good (we think) but would like help identifying where we should improve (like tagging, key words etc – would that make any difference?

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Content – Audience Research and ProgrammingKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

• Audience Research - We … do our own annual survey. We are interested in our reservation community which is maybe 4500 but also of 100-200 people, in person. We are interested in a listener survey for % #s but more interested in measuring impact. Would be interested in a listenership survey but it’s not a priority. Would love to do a study on impact that we have. Both require funding…

• Program Changes – Changes usually come at the start of the new year, or the start of the school year. We don’t make a ton of changes but we do try and change things up so even if programming remains pretty consistent we recognize the need to keep things fresh or to add some new element…

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Content – Programming & VolunteersKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

• Evaluating Programmers – Staff are evaluated and given feedback on their on air work and production but not enough in frequency or formality. Informally – feedback is giving to staff often. Could use help giving professional feedback on the on air and production aspects of evaluation – with a need for coaching and then what steps come if performance doesn’t improve. We are supposed to do annual evaluations and performance reviews but slack for sure.

• Volunteers: We have a no volunteer model which … works for us and have only occasionally had volunteers who worked on specific projects …. No interest in changing to volunteer model …

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Content – StrengthsKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

Strengths– We like short form programs for news and public affairs and repetition for

airing those segments.– Writing that is explanatory in terms easily understood by listeners even

when context might be complicated– We do use our website and social media efforts to extend content beyond

broadcast.– When we think of content – it’s really our production and short programs

that play within an hour of programming. The programming is music – and we try to be broad with that – but what we think is important is the locally produced content within the music programming

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Content – ChallengesKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

Challenges– Keeping our production high quality in audio quality, editing, writing– Creating some methodology to make sure we are covering a broad

spectrum of content areas and issues. Should probably reach out to folks who are hard to engage in doing an interview and not give up on them.

– Finding ways to use different platforms to expand content delivery. We do that – but unsure if folks utilize it.

13

Engagement – Annual CalendarKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

• Recording at a local pow wow in February (used to broadcast live but had technology issues)

• We attend a big health fair in June and broadcast from a June Pow Wow• We participate in the 4th of July Parade• We participate in the Back to School BBQ Aug/Sept• We participate in the community Halloween• And we are in the Christmas Lights Parade• We have … been part of some of our K-8 school’s Family Engagement Nights• We did some neighboring town – “downtown” summer night efforts• Also sometimes do Christmas Bazaar• Always good to be out there and be seen – it’s a great chance for feedback – but

staffing is thin for all these things.

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More EngagementKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

• Strategic Partnerships: Child Health Task Force – Child Health, Local School

District – School happenings/awareness, Tribal Health & Human Services

Programs – we are part of this branch of the government and do a significant

amount of health and mental health education, Warm Springs Community

Action Team – financial education, small business info. And more….

• Emerging group - We recognize that … we are part of a Native American

community – there is a lot of diversity within that. We try and be cognizant of

offering useful information for all segments of the community and view

everything with a local lens and context.

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Engagement – Strengths & ChallengesKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

Challenges– Better understanding what Engagement means– Recognizing if we are or are not already doing– Engagement– Staffing to do more, assessing success, etc

16

RevenueKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

• Annual Operating Budget – about $375,000• Membership efforts: We only did our first pledge drive in 2017 and have

continued to do basic drives in 2018. We mostly do on-air and online campaigns driving folks to our website. Really pushing sustaining memberships. Haven’t had success so will rethink the effort in 2019. We get a few one time one time memberships when we set up at events. Folks definitely prefer an exchange of money for a shirt in that setting. We will continue to do this occasionally. We’ve tried this year to set up a booth at events where folks are spending money (street fairs & bazaars) These have been a good opportunity to engage with people. We’ve has success with doing raffles in this setting and made a few bucks.

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Revenue – Breakout by TypeKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

• Breakout by Type:– Underwriting 6%– Grants 9%– CSG 40%– Tribal Budget 34%– Tower Leasing & Mgmt 11%

• Underwriting - We created a new package with a goal of 10 new underwriters this year. We’ve gotten 4 … Trying to appeal to bigger entities more than local business (example - hospital, insurance, etc)

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Revenue – Strengths & ChallengesKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

Strengths– Local High School Sports Broadcast

Underwriting Package

– Tower Leasing (obviously you need

a tower….) not NFFS eligible - but a

significant revenue stream none the

less

– For underwriting - having good

programming

Challenges– No dedicated development

position. We had a grant for one.

Had a hard time filling the position

with a qualified person.

– Finding grants that we qualify for as

a Tribal Department without non-

profit status

– Being efficient with our efforts -

making sure the cost of the time

that goes into a

development/revenue effort -

yields at least that cost in revenue

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Capacity – Strengths & ChallengesKWSO - Warm Springs, OR

Strengths– Focus on serving the community– High level of reliability and trust

with community– Focus on quality local

programming– Willingness to do anything for

revenue

Challenges– Staff productivity– Manager over capacity– Need to designate more time for

planning, evaluation etc

20

ParticipantsKZUM - Lincoln, NE

Kerry Semrad, General Manager

Ryan Evans, Program Director

2

Who do you serve? What do you offer?KZUM - Lincoln, NE

For 40 years, Sunrise Communications has operated KZUM, a community-supported nonprofit radio station in Lincoln, Nebraska. Powered by almost 100 volunteers from widely varied backgrounds who range in age from 20 to 85, KZUM has a local listening audience of 10,000, daily and and average of 25,000 visits to KZUM.org, monthly. With about 20 hours of daytime programming created by Lincoln's diverse communities, KZUM is the community-minded media outlet in Lincoln. Our organization's mission is educating and building community through broadcast media, with diverse and independent voices that enrich the perspectives of our audiences. KZUM works to carry out this mission through community engagement, on air programming and unique business partnerships.

3

Enhance Local Programming and Drive EngagementKZUM - Lincoln, NE

InitiativeKZUM has a vision to make narrative-focused community-generated audio content a cornerstone of community engagement. In an effort to increase our organizational capacity and realize this vision, we have built a second production studio and added an additional staff member to our programming department. KZUM’s engagement strategy will be realized by reaching the following objectives: 1) Create a consistent, independent news source in Lincoln, while laying the foundation for this program to be around for years to come 2) Cultivate an atmosphere of storytelling with diverse voices, through encouraging and training amateur journalists. 3) Regularly produce engaging, unique content that reflects our community.

4

ProfileKZUM - Lincoln, NE

• License and Level: Community, B• Time in the CSG program – 16 years• Economic Development – Growing. New and renewed interest in the station

has led to growing demand for content across many channels as well as new partnership and sponsorship opportunities.

• Estimated Coverage Population – Lancaster County’s population of about 285,000, Around 2-3 percent estimated listeners, Non-Rural

• Content Mix – Music dominant with some news & information. Locally-produced (dominant) with some syndicated.

5

Content - ProgrammingKZUM - Lincoln, NE

Top Local Programs1. “The Slacker Morning Show” -variety music2. “Women’s Blues & Boogie” -blues and roots music3. “Tree with Roots” -Americana/roots

Top Syndicated Programs1. “Democracy Now!”2. “Grateful Dead Hour”3. “Juke in the Back” - pre-Rock and Roll rhythm and blues

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• Local Programming – 120, ~ 70+%

Content – CollaborationsKZUM - Lincoln, NE

• Local Music Collaboration - We are the lead organizer of a free summer

concert series at a local park (typically weekly for 12 weeks). Frequent

collaboration with local clubs and music venues to promote their events and

host KZUM benefits throughout the year. Usually host house concert series

every winter (six shows). Lead organizer of “Nebraska Exposed” event that

features Nebraska performers at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Many events

throughout the year dedicated to many genres.

• Partnering with Non-Profits – Malone Center - community center (on

Juneteenth event), Lincoln Unites - promoting Lincoln as a welcoming

community for refugees and immigrants, Lincoln Calling - nonprofit multi-day

music festival, Star City Pride - organization promoting inclusivity in our city

7

Content – Website, Email, Social MediaKZUM - Lincoln, NE

• Streaming – Over 15 years

• Website Users - 4,000-7,000 unique, Time per user is 1 minute 32 seconds.

• Website Updates - Multiple times per week, often daily. Two primary people

responsible for making updates, but content comes from many contributors

including interns and programmers.

• Email Subscribers: 1645, frequency average of once every 2-3 months in 2018.

we haven’t been pushing this or utilizing it much. We’ve lost 65 subscribers

since December 2017.

• Social Media – FB 5,900, Twitter 2,110, Instagram 1,810

• Social Media posting - 2-4 times per day.

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Content – Social Media & Audience Research

KZUM - Lincoln, NE

• Video - We utilize Facebook/Instagram live for in-studio live performances

(average of once every few weeks) as well clips of live performances at local

venues (once every week or two). Will post live videos during fund drives and

events to promote ourselves and our sponsors. We also are working on a

steady production schedule of edited video to release regularly on our

site/social media to boost station visibility prior to fundraising efforts, recap

events and promote specific programs.

• Tracking Digital KPIs - we do pay a close attention to the number of

impressions/shares/likes on social media posts (have seen growth).

• More Social Media - We also have used Google Ads since late 2016, through

their Ads Grants Program. Has contributed many website hits over the years.

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Content – Programming Changes and EvaluationKZUM - Lincoln, NE

• Program Changes – Program director is ultimately the authority but consults with

programming committee on most additions, changes. Any changes based on

editorial decisions (non-turnover) are often based on audience feedback, with input

from programming committee and KZUM staff…. we try to be intentional about new

program placement, new programmer recruitment, etc., to best serve our audience.

We conduct a once or twice per year programmer academy where we solicit for

applications for a couple of months beforehand, then accept a dozen or so to go

through a 3-week classroom session, then technical training. Programmers are

chosen for that by the program director and programming committee. Show

placement is based first on audience and community needs.

• Evaluating Programmers – Yes, through our programming committee using a

standardized form

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Content – VolunteersKZUM - Lincoln, NE

• Volunteers: About 100, higher than last year, 15% new. We use Google forms and calendars for booking our production studios.

Strengths– Programmer academy. It’s still in its infancy for us, but the model of using

our programmer academy as the primary onboarding process for new volunteers seems to be a huge improvement. It creates a definite recruitment period, with a deadline, which encourages people who may have been on the fence to submit their application. It allows for far more thorough training in a multi-week classroom setting and has created a pool of very invested volunteers who are ready to sub for current shows until they get their own slot.

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Content – Volunteer StrengthsKZUM - Lincoln, NE

Strengths– Community needs and programming strategy first. This is more of something we’ve

learned NOT to do, but for a long time, program schedule openings were filled based on seniority and often longevity of volunteers. They would be moved to better time slots regardless of whether or not it may have been the best fit. Committing to making better decisions in this way has led to better scheduling practices.

– Even-handedness and accountability. We’ve worked hard over the last five years, especially, to instill expectations for volunteers not only during the course of their regular programs, but especially during fund drives. …but changing the focus from “you need to raise money” to “you need to help on other programs and use the messaging tactics provided” have worked to change the culture to be more cooperative and actually led to better fundraising results. Bringing everyone on board with expectations of them, coupled with team building has succeeded in getting far more buy-in from volunteers and the fundraising success has generally followed.

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Content – Strengths & ChallengesKZUM - Lincoln, NE

Strengths– Finding creative ways to encourage

programmers to keep their programs fresh…encourage locally connected content.

– Always stay audience-focused and …encourage volunteers to do the same. Avoiding the trap of being a “radio club”. We’re getting better about making programming decisions not based merely on convenience and longevity, but with audience building in mind.

– Encourage programmers to aircheck themselves. Radio Free America, offering a free two-week archive online to noncommercial stations, has helped a lot in this regard..

Challenges– Gaining a clear understanding of our

audience and, perhaps more importantly, our potential audience.

– Recruiting new volunteers specific to the kinds of programming we want to increase on our airwaves.

– Better integrating our online and on-air content. Web and social media offer additional content to more audiences, but how can we bring some of that to the airwaves? We get the feeling there are a lot of users engaging with KZUM via social media but they may not be listeners.

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EngagementKZUM - Lincoln, NE

• Events – We planned and operated 32 events in 2018 and participated in over 80 total events. The events that KZUM curated were aimed both at our core audience and at reaching potential new audiences. Events were organized with an eye toward not only expanding station visibility, but providing informative and cultural experiences for the community.

• Regular Feedback - We have an outreach committee (an extension of the board of directors) that seeks to identify potential partnerships and evaluate past partnerships, as well as attend events put on by other organizations. We also meet quarterly with our Community Advisory Board, which addresses how KZUM is serving the community. KZUM is also a member of the local Chamber of Commerce and regularly attends networking and civic events.

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More EngagementKZUM - Lincoln, NE

• Engagement Results: We have directed resources to establishing new committees through the board of directors, including for outreach and fundraising. Our engagement efforts have also led us to pursue podcasting with new producers from our community.

• Tracking Engagement Metrics: We don’t have any formal measurements in place, but we have observed steady increases in website traffic, social media engagement and donors over the last few years.

15

Engagement – Strategic PartnershipsKZUM - Lincoln, NE

• Several partnerships with local organizations have led to weekly on-air

programs that currently air:

– Lied Center for Performing Arts (weekly performing arts program)

– Hear Nebraska (weekly Nebraska music program)

– Cause Collective (weekly program featuring a different local nonprofit)

– Other partnerships include:

• Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau (daily updates on tourism and community

events).

• Various events with community centers, civic groups and other local nonprofits.

16

More EngagementKZUM - Lincoln, NE

• Emerging group - We are particularly interested in engaging with refugees and immigrants who are new to our city. Lincoln is a leading resettlement community and we would love to better give a platform to these groups. We are also interested in growing KZUM’s engagement with young people already in the community.

• Emerging group planning - Our plan so far has been to identify groups and potential partnerships, so now we are looking for ways to continuing fostering those and building that trust. Engaging more young people with the station has begun to take off through many events geared toward those in their teens and 20s over the last few years. Our internship program has greatly helped in this regard. One area we want to engage them further in is over the air and online audio content.

17

Engagement – Strengths & ChallengesKZUM - Lincoln, NE

Strengths– Staff and Board Retreat every year.

Identifying target audiences and strategizing on how to reach them…collaborating on an engagement event are great outcomes of our past meetings.

– Having set criteria for opportunities-… “is this going to further our mission?” or “bring us closer to realizing our vision?”. These questions make it easier to communicate to your staff and BOD why you said “Yes” or “No” to an event. It helps keep you on track …

– Partnering with other organizations- …can provide a link to your target audiences …keeps costs low, as well.

Challenges – Quantifying Success- We have seen great

success …when looking at social media followers and donor dollars. …would like to see increased attendance at …fundraisers and free events… responses to listeners surveys.

– Reaching out to …diversify our station. – Prioritizing opportunity- We have a lot of

opportunities …but, have had to be very strategic on what we take on.

– How to distribute engaging content- We have great content both online and on air… we don’t see the consumption …that we would like to.

18

RevenueKZUM - Lincoln, NE


• Software Tools – Excel, we don’t use source codes but our software allows us to pull reports based on any given event or campaign.

• Membership database size – 4,848

• Membership database - We are confident in the reliability of the last 6-8 years worth of information, but lots of different record keeping systems over years previous to that have made older data less reliable.

• 12-Month Donors - About 1100. 7% higher than last year. $92.38 Average.

• Number of Pledge Drives – 3

• Number of Grants – 7-10 a year

19

More RevenueKZUM - Lincoln, NE

• 12-Month Underwriters: 65. This includes both monetary and trade relationships. This is slightly lower than last year. We have not been able to deliver the customer service to keep people renewing. We just hired a new full time staff member who will be focusing only on underwriting, so we expect that number to go up!

• Average Underwriting Amount: $1,500• New Activities - We have dropped a few activities based on fundraising results and

we are currently restructuring certain events in an effort to bring in more revenue.• Appealing to new donors - We often gear specific events toward donors in each of

these categories. We have used direct mail to lapsed donors once per year and are currently developing a sustainer program.

• Tracking - Each development employee has quarterly/annual goals to reach.

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Revenue – Breakout by TypeKZUM - Lincoln, NE

• Breakout by Type:

– Membership 53%


– Underwriting 11%

– Grants 5%

– CSG 23%

21

Revenue – Strengths & Challenges

KZUM - Lincoln, NE

Strengths– Talk about Revenue and Expenses- Every

Board meeting, we talk about revenue,

expenses. Keep the communication open

and flowing.

– Constantly evaluate efforts- Evaluate

revenue streams, Are events bringing in

money? Are you spending too much on

Thank You gifts? Do you have dependable

monthly revenue? These questions helped

us to prioritize our efforts for the new

fiscal year!

– Personalize Thank Yous to contributors- For

every donation we send out hand written

Thank You card… We have a very high

return rate on our donations and credit the

Thank You cards!!

Challenges– Accurately tracking donor data- …we’ll

have a better handle on it in 2019.

– Making revenue a priority- Over the last

few years, we had a newer staff come on

board… Community engagement became a

big focus. We can now focus on

engagement and revenue at the same

time… more focus on underwriting and a

better sustainer program.

– Communicating the value of community

media- We frequently run into an issue

where an underwriter won’t hear their

announcement …and jump to the

conclusion that nobody else is.

22

Capacity – Strengths & ChallengesKZUM - Lincoln, NE

Strengths– Including stakeholders from as

many levels of the organization as possible on decision-making or at least the reasons behind decisions.

– Keeping a positive culture in the face of frequent frustrations.

– Promoting organizational transparency.

– Clearly defined — yet flexible —roles.

Challenges– Telling ourselves no - realizing a

small staff/organization has its limits.

– Follow-through on big ideas.– Culture of kindness can create lack

of accountability

23

ParticipantsWERU - East Orland, ME

Matt Murphy, General Manager

Heather Andrews, Development Director

2

Who do you serve? What do you offer?WERU - East Orland, ME

WERU is a vibrant, diverse, independent and noncommercial radio broadcast and online service. Our mission is to engage with the community to provide diverse music, entertainment and alternative news and public affairs programming, with emphasis on local people, issues and cultures. We offer a wide range of curated musical genres and information programming, produced largely by volunteers from the community. …We are a rural station that covers an expansive portion of Coastal Maine that has a population of 180,000. Major sources of employment include seasonal tourism, marine trades and lobster fishing, service industries, and there is even a genetics laboratory. Wild blueberries fields and Christmas tree farms abound. The area used to have sizable papermaking, chicken and fish processing industries as well, but those have closed. We have both well-off (frequently retirees) and very low-income people. Age demographics skew older as with many rural areas, and Maine has the oldest average age in the country. Nonetheless, the sense of community in the region is very strong.

3

Enable Generational Change, Succession PlanningWERU - East Orland, ME

InitiativeA huge challenge for WERU is the aging demographics of our signal area. Our audience, membership, business supporters and volunteer base are gradually becoming less able to contribute to the wellness of the station. …. We must make a major initiative to engage with younger people, … They are smaller age cohorts than the ones that started WERU thirty years ago, yes, but nonetheless value the same sense of community that gave birth to the radio station. …we have to engage them with a combination of experiences … Events, conversations, trainings and opportunities for content creation and leadership development will be necessary. Multi-platform content delivery will be necessary. Sharing and ultimately transferring control of programming and leadership to younger generations will be necessary. We have some younger volunteers who can take this on but we need many more. The station will change, grow and adapt to the future based on what the new people who get involved want it to be, but first we have to welcome them in the door!

4

ProfileWERU - East Orland, ME

• License and Level: Community, C• Time in the CSG program – 14 years• Economic Development – Stable to declining. The economic climate greatly

depends upon geographic location within our broadcast region.• Estimated Coverage Population – ~180,000 – 200,000, Rural

5

Content - ProgrammingWERU - East Orland, ME

Top Local Programs1. Saturday and Sunday Morning Coffeehouse (music)

2. Highway 61 (music)

3. The Drive Through (music)

Top Syndicated Programs1. Democracy Now (talk)

2. Alternative Radio (talk)

3. New Dimensions (talk)

6


• Local Programming – 130, ~ 77%

Content – CollaborationsWERU - East Orland, ME

• Local Music Collaboration - In 2018, WERU put on four music events that showcased local Maine musicians. We also do a live broadcast of the annual American Folk Festival. We also co-sponsor multiple non-music events throughout the year.

• Partnering with Non-Profits - We partner we various nonprofits, including the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, League of Women Voters of Maine, Maine Sea Grant, and Wednesday on Main.

7

Content – Website & EmailWERU - East Orland, ME

• Streaming – 15 years

• Website Users - We had 660 users (941 sessions) within the past 30 days. Time per user is 1 minute 32 seconds.

• Website Updates - Typically bi-weekly. We use a team approach.

• Email Subscribers: 1,942. 250 receive an additional volunteer e-newsletter. 14% increase from last year. Monthly frequency. …The number of our email subscribers has gradually risen since WERU has had a MailChimp account.

8

Content – Social Media & Audience Research WERU - East Orland, ME

• Social Media – FB 6,548, Twitter 1,724, Instagram 369

• Social Media posting - 1-3 times a day on Facebook and Twitter. Approximately once a week to bi-monthly on Instagram.

• Video - We use Facebook Live and YouTube about one to three times per month. Our content is WERU-hosted events (talks, etc), news coverage, and live performances at the radio station.

• Audience Research - Subscribe to RRC, two diaries

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Content – Programming Changes and EvaluationWERU - East Orland, ME

• Program Changes – WERU Staff and the Program Advisory Committee are involved in the process of making program changes. Our Program and Operations Manager has final authority on program decisions in concert with the General Manager. Changes are typically made quarterly dependent upon when programming leave and/or become available. Another basis for our programming adjustments is the assessment of how well various programs fulfill our mission. Our new programs are based upon the availability and interests of our volunteers. They go through orientation, studio training, and practice. They then submit a written proposal and recording to the Program and Operations Manager.

• Evaluating Programmers – Our established process is for the Program Advisory Committee to evaluate each show on a rotating and ongoing basis using standardized criteria. However, only two of the five current members of the PAC are responsible about following through with evaluation assignments.

10

Content – VolunteersWERU - East Orland, ME

• Volunteers: Approximately 100 on air and 100 behind the scenes. we plan on using our donor database to better manage volunteers moving forward.

Strengths– Conduct volunteer orientation

– Utilize clear guidelines and expectations

– Vet volunteers before putting them on the air

11

Content – Strengths & ChallengesWERU - East Orland, ME

Strengths– Keep the audience at the forefront of

your mind.– Have clear guidelines and

reinforcement of those guidelines.– Positively reinforce good programming.

Challenges– Finding people who have the right

knowledge base and communication skills

– DJs who talk too much and are neglecting to put the audience first.

– People who say inappropriate things on public affairs shows (off-topic, conspiracy theories, etc)

– It can be harder for the general listener to identify with our diverse programming.

– Too few people dominating call-in shows.

12

EngagementWERU - East Orland, ME

• Events – WERU doubled the number of station events within the past year. Events have typically been planned on a yearly basis. The intention of our events in the past has been to make a modest amount of money and we have considered them to be successful in that they have been pretty well attended and people have enjoyed themselves. Moving forward in 2019, we intend to target a younger age demographic to a much greater extent. Events have largely been volunteer driven with staff support.

• Regular Feedback - We would be very interested in a resource that might provide us with that kind of regular feedback.

13

More EngagementWERU - East Orland, ME

• Tracking Engagement Metrics: We track the number of event attendees, but have not been collecting data on each attendee and following up with member/donor solicitation. We plan on doing this …. in 2019.

• Strategic Partnerships: We maintain partnerships with other community organizations to enhance our service to the community. …. we have identified multiple potential partners and areas for programming growth … We plan on reaching out to these potential partners in 2019.

• Emerging group - Bangor, Maine may have a growing group of people ages 25-45, … We have identified potential partners who might help us to reach this younger demographic. Our Development Director… may act as a liaison.

14

Engagement – Strengths & ChallengesWERU - East Orland, ME

Strengths– Utilize a myriad marketing tools

(on-air, email marketing, etc)– Utilize General Manager to act as a

community ambassador.

Challenges– Staff, board, and volunteers have

been roughly 50+ and so engaging with a younger demographic has been challenging.

– Lack of staff time to dedicate toward outreach engagement.

– Compared to Southern Maine, our broadcast region does not have a large amount of people aged 20-45.

– Lack of younger volunteers to be involved with engagement.

15

Revenue

WERU - East Orland, ME


• Software Tools - Salesforce for Nonprofits, Click and Pledge, in addition to

SalesForce. We are not fully happy with SalesForce. It seems to require too much

manual back-end entry work and is not intuitive. …We use source codes…would like

a greater understanding of … the importance of using source codes.

• Membership database size – 4,908 accounts including lapsed and accounts with no

donation history, …

• Membership database - 23 Years of data. … we have operational and training issues

with SalesForce.

• 12-Month Donors - 2,261 …(including people from the same household). This

appears to be … higher than the previous 12 months… $124 average.

• 12-Month New vs. Returning Donors – 334 new, 15% of total

16

More RevenueWERU - East Orland, ME

• 12-Month Underwriters: 229 underwriters. Our income from underwriters has gone down from the previous 12 months.

• Average Underwriting Amount: $360• Number of Pledge Drives – 4 week-long pledge drives and 1 one-day pledge drive • Number of Grants – about 2 a year• New Activities - We doubled the number of our events due to our 30th Anniversary

Celebration. These events were primarily "friend-makers" as opposed to fundraisers.• Reserve Fund – Not beyond our endowment.• Appealing to new donors - we are doing on-air promos to try to attract new donors

(pulling from our listener-base). We send out renewal mailings and lapsed donor mailings.

17

Revenue – Breakout by TypeWERU - East Orland, ME

• Breakout by Type:– Membership 37%

– Sustainer Program 18%


– Underwriting 17%

– Grants 2%

– CSG 25%

– Endowment Less than 1%

• 29 donors whose total giving in the past year was $1k+ in the past year. Of those donors, one gave over $5k.

• $50,000 of in kind underwriting trades not reflected in breakout

• If you add up Membership and the Sustainer Program, Sustainers make up 32% of the total.

18

Revenue – Strengths & ChallengesWERU - East Orland, ME

Strengths– Coaching on-air volunteers during

pledge drives.– Robust promotion of Sustaining

Membership program.– Robust renewal mailing program.

Challenges– Lack of significant major donor support

/ lack of staff time to dedicate toward major donor support.

– Balancing fundraising needs with donor fatigue.

– Challenges enhancing our underwriting revenue via a part-time staff position.

– Challenges being able to fully utilize our membership database (SalesForce). Also, financial data siloed with the Finance Manager.

– Lack of strong development capability / capacity on the board and development committee.

19

Capacity – Strengths & ChallengesWERU - East Orland, ME

Strengths– Regularly scheduled staff and

committee meetings.– Group and individual meetings

between board and staff. (We would like to be doing more of these moving forward.)

– Utilize professional development resources.

– Clear and comprehensive policies.

Challenges– Lack of receptiveness to change.– Lack of succession plans for staff,

board, and volunteers.– Siloed staff duties.– Aging staff, board, and volunteer

base.– Lack of significant major donor and

grant funding, historically, to help cover staff salaries, regular raises, and attract and retain highly skilled staff.

20

ParticipantsWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

Elizabeth Sanders, General Manager

Rachel Garringer, Public Affairs Director

2

Who do you serve? What do you offer?WMMT - Whitesburg, KY

Situated in the Central Appalachian coalfields, WMMT is the 24 hour voice of mountain people’s music, culture, and social issues - providing broadcast space for creative expression and community involvement in making radio. Based in Whitesburg, Kentucky, (pop.2200) WMMT and our 50+ volunteer programmers reach southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, and southern West Virginia (as well as portions of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina). In a community and region that is often under-resourced and stereotyped, we aim to lift up the stories and voices of those who are often not heard from in national and, oftentimes, local media. In addition to our diverse music programs, we produce a variety of public affairs programming …. We also have a weekly show called Calls From Home where friends and family members of those incarcerated in our listening area call in and leave shout-outs, which we then play over the air for their loved ones who are locked up. Off-air we provide low to no-cost after school traditional music instruction to elementary, middle, and high school students with our Passing the Pick and Bow program. We host a free music, arts, and culture festival every year, concert events in our theater, and (this summer) our very first Girls Rock Camp.

3

Expand our Services to Incarcerated Listeners WMMT - Whitesburg, KY

Initiatives We would like to implement an initiative to expand our work with and service to our incarcerated listeners. Currently, we offer Calls From Home and, every few years, a one-off project engaging with those who are locked up. We have the beginning ideas for how this may look, but no thorough plan or money resources at the moment to make it sustainable. We’d like to explore what it would take to engage those listeners (especially those in solitary confinement) in community radio production (news, radio dramas, their own writing, etc) and how we can partner with their families and home communities (the majority are near Richmond, VA). In doing so, we would like to develop a revenue model that would sustain our capacity for this work.

4

ProfileWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

• License and Level: Community, C• Time in the CSG program – 15 years• Economic Development – The economy has been declining in the coalfields for the

past 50 years. We’ve seen a more rapid and acute situation of economic decline in the past 8 years…. We’ve seen decreased success during fund drive, and generally face challenges recruiting new volunteer programmers as the population declines.

• Estimated Coverage Population – 300,000; Rural• We have no one providing specific technical support; staff each carries pieces of this

work at different times. Our General Manager manages the database, our Public Affairs Director is the primary person updating our website, the entire staff takes on social media, our Program Director handles streaming, and we work with our engineer (who’s on retainer) and our off-site website folks when there are problems we can’t handle in-house. We need a serious amount of tech support that we do not currently have.

5

Content - ProgrammingWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

Top Local Programs (by donation)1. Riding Around Listening to the Radio -music variety (the longtime DJ who had this show for over 30 years just passed in October and we aren't sure what to do

with this slot)

2. Deep in Tradition - music old-time

3. Possum Opry – music old-time

Top Syndicated Programs1. We currently have Inside Appalachia, which airs twice a week and two shows that are no longer producing new

content so we are just running past episodes until we can fill those slots (Across the Blue Ridge & Music City

Roots).

6


• Local Programming – 164, ~ 98%

Content – More ProgrammingWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

• Local Music Collaboration - We co-produce the Seedtime on the Cumberland music and crafts festival with Appalshop ever year. We feature local musicians live on stage and on air, including our Bluegrass Express Live series. We host local musicians on air in the studio as well. We have recitals on stage every year for our traditional music education program: Passing the Pick and Bow. We host a girls rock camp in the summer that culminates with an on-stage performance. Over the years we’ve partnered with the Farmers Market to support live music at the market and with the town of Whitesburg to support a free summer music series downtown. We also partner with our local community centers and community theater groups.

7

Content – Website & Social MediaWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

• Streaming – Around 7 years• Website Users - Apparently 5,774 unique users in 30 day period (We’re

surprised and a little confused why this number is so high, especially since we don't hear from nearly any of these folks during fund-drive or in general!)

• Website Updates - Once or twice a week. The Public Affairs Director posts new content each week, and otherwise the site is not generally updated. Except during fund drives when the GM adds a banner.

• Email Subscribers: Appalshop has a newsletter that goes out monthly, but WMMT does not have a separate one

8

Content – Website & Social MediaWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

• Social Media – FB 4,384, Twitter 1,920 and Instagram 1,032• Social Media posting - Daily on weekdays for Facebook, an average of 3 times

a week on Twitter, and once a week for Instagram.• Video - We’ve tried Facebook Live several times, but our broadband quality is

poor.• More info about Social Media - We tend to share new Public Affairs content

almost daily, and have struggled to maintain regular updates on the music end of our programming (which makes up the VAST majority of our content). When we do post DJ or music related content we get much higher interaction, so we’re working to post more of that. We generally don’t get great engagement with Public Affairs content via social media.

9

Content – Programming & VolunteersWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

• Program Changes – Program changes most often occur at the staff level, where we generally try to reach consensus. Leading up to and during conversation, we do our best to communicate with and receive feedback from programmers and listeners. There is no set process for program change. Music: Our programmers start out as subs and then, depending on slot availability and programmer dependability, they can submit a informal proposal/playlist for a show. The Program Director and staff will review and work with the programmer to determine what the next step is. Public Affairs Programming: When we have an open slot in our Public Affairs schedule we reach out to community members to see if there is interest in producing a monthly show. If so, our Public Affairs Director provides training in audio recording, interview technique and editing; and provides support as needed in developing the idea for the show.

• Volunteers: 50, Lower than last year, estimate 50% new/50% returning

10

Content – Volunteer StrengthsWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

• Strengths– The more regular face-to-face time with programmers the better– Provide volunteers with multiple ways to contact us– Push out of our comfort zone for recruitment

11

Content – Strengths & ChallengesWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

Strengths– For PA: we try to have as many community

produced shows on air as possible, and we try to cover a wide range of topics that relate to the many different subcommunities within our area

– We strongly encourage people to be themselves and bring their full personality to their shows, we aren’t trying to fit a mold

– We try our best to accommodate and encourage as much creativity on air as FCC allows

Challenges– For Public Affairs: The top challenge is

maintaining community produced shows in an ongoing way.

– Also for PA: We struggle to get any community input or engagement about our programming, unless it’s when we produce a show that folks don’t like (such as about LGBTQ communities, or communities of color in our listening area).

– For Music: We struggle with retention, and to keep absences low. We also struggle to recruit new volunteer DJs. We also don’t have set system to introduce new music into our database.

12

EngagementWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

• Events – We regularly table at community and regional events (festivals,

PRIDE, Oktoberfest, etc.). We periodically present on our work at events or

schools (conferences, community panels, area schools and universities). We

are planning to co-host events in the communities our volunteers are from.

These events are definitely successful in raising awareness and getting out the

word, but not as much on the fundraising end.

• Strategic Partnerships - We have partners in a variety of fields: locally,

regionally, and nationally. Education, Agriculture & Food, the Arts, Social

Justice, Youth Organizing, Cultural, etc.

13

More EngagementWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

• Emerging group - While not an "emerging group" we've been working in the past year to better serve the rural LGBTQ+ community in our listening area. We also want to develop more ways to better serve the incarcerated population in our listening area. We don't have a formal plan, but we have a variety of connections with these communities, between staff and volunteers.

14

Engagement – Strengths & ChallengesWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

Strengths– We provide free training and

access to equipment and the studio for both our music dis, and community produced Public Affairs shows - so keeping an open door for our volunteers links us to the community

Challenges– Capacity– Not great avenues for feedback

from listeners other than social media or phone calls

– Capacity again

15

RevenueWMMT - Whitesburg, KY


• Meeting the NFFS threshold - It is very difficult. It is a struggle to meet it every year.

We have to be creative within the guidelines. We've also had problems with two

different auditors who've not been familiar with the process and it meant some of

our funds haven't gotten counted that should have in the past.

• Software Tools – Network for Good. In our database we are able to assign a

campaign and designation for any donation. Example, campaign could be: 2018 Fall

Fund Drive, Designation: Piece of the Rock (one of our shows). We're able to filter

based on those campaigns and designations.

• Number of Pledge Drives – 2

• Number of Grants – 7-15

16

More RevenueWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

• Membership database size – 870• Membership database: 2 years. Yes, in the past 5 years we've used 3 different

systems, so were always trying to learn a new system. We also share our system with other projects across Appalshop, which periodically creates some confusion/issues. We're still ironing out the details since switching all Appalshop projects to the same system.

• 12-Month Donors - Spring 205, Fall 208. This might include repeats and there are a variety of other donations that are hard to differentiate in our database

• 12-Month Underwriters: 24. Same as last year. • Average Underwriting Amount: Around $850 per year. We're working to

update our rates and system.

17

Revenue – Breakout by TypeWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

• Breakout by Type:– Membership 0%– Special Events 1% – Underwriting 0%– Grants 58%– CSG 32%– Direct Mail 9%

18

Revenue – Strengths & ChallengesWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

Strengths– Lots of thoughts, but not great

best practices right now.

Challenges– Capacity for development work– The economic reality of the

region we're in

19

Capacity – ChallengesWMMT - Whitesburg, KY

Challenges– We have a small team who are all already working over capacity, which

means we can't get new programs rolling well, much less sustain what we have.

– Quality of content suffers across the station due to lack of capacity.– There's not funding to increase capacity, and give staff room to breathe

and expand

20

ParticipantsWNCU - Durham, NC

Lackisha Freeman, General Manager

Uchenna Owens, Development Director

2

Who do you serve? What do you offer?WNCU - Durham, NC

Since its debut in August 1995, WNCU 90.7 FM, licensed to North Carolina Central University, has consistently fulfilled its mission to provide quality culturally appropriate programming to public radio listeners in the NC Triangle area and globally through our mobile app and live stream. The format of this listener supported public radio station entertains the jazz aficionado, educates the novice jazz listener and disseminates news and information relative to the community-at-large. It is our goal to locally produce music, news and public affairs programs that are culturally enriching, diverse, thought provoking, interactive and intelligent.

3

Engage a Younger DemographicWNCU - Durham, NC

InitiativeWNCU would like to implement an educational interactive community initiative to engage a younger demographic through informal community forums about the historical roots of music. We would also engage and collaborate with the university's Hip Hop Initiative to engage a classroom of college students to lend to the discussion of the history of hip-hop and the influences of jazz on hip-hop. We would have listening pop-ups and informational discussion sessions to talk about jazz and hip-hop and discuss the influence that each has on the other. I could also see this evolving into forums around other local community discussions about topics relevant to the younger community which would allow them to tell stories from their perspective and create their own voice and stance on issues impacting the community that we serve.

4

ProfileWNCU - Durham, NC

• License and Level: University, B• Time in the CSG program – 21 years• Economic Development – It appears to be growing although there has been

no data assessment to evaluate if there has been impact. On the surface, we have not seen a growth in membership, but perhaps in underwriting slightly.

• Estimated Coverage Population – 1,582,600 from RRC Data Spring 2018; Percent Listeners – 2%, Non-Rural

5

Content - ProgrammingWNCU - Durham, NC

Top Local Programs1. Hallelujah Praise, gospel music2. Close to Thee, gospel music3. Eight Track Flashback, oldies music

Local Programming – 84 hours ~ 50%

Top Syndicated Programs1. Jazz Overnight, music2. Democracy Now, talk3. Snap Judgment, talk

6

Content – More ProgrammingWNCU - Durham, NC

• Content Mix – Music dominant with some news & information, Locally-


• Local Music Collaboration - We partner with local restaurants on jazz events

and also the jazz studies department at our university.

• Emergency Preparedness – Provide updates only on social media and not on

the air.

7

Content – Website & Social MediaWNCU - Durham, NC


• Website Users – 100-400 unique visitors per week

• Email Subscribers: 500+, Contacted quarterly

• Social Media – FB 1623, Twitter 699, Instagram 139

• Social Media posting - minimum of three times daily

• Video - Some announcers post videos live in studio

• Mobile App - We use Sky Blue Technologies since 2012

• More info about Social Media - I would love to have a full time digital and social media content role at the station.

8

Content – ChallengesWNCU - Durham, NC

Challenges– Program Director retired this year so this is an area that needs help. We

hope to bring in a consultant short term and hire a new content director in March 2019.

– Adhering to schedule on log– Sticking to format

9

EngagementWNCU - Durham, NC

• Events – We hosted our Heart 2 Heart Breakfast Series 2017-218 and we will return with it in February 2019. The focus was to meet up with other nonprofits and explore community partnerships together or to allow them to connect with each other for potential partnerships in the group.

• Regular Feedback - We have discussed hosting pop ups in the community to get feedback.

• Emerging Group - Younger demo. 35-55

10

Engagement – StrengthsWNCU - Durham, NC

Strengths– Create a place to connect with community partners– Discuss ideas once you have convened with partners– Build Partnerships to Collaborate– Feed them and provide entertainment, if you can

11

RevenueWNCU - Durham, NC

• Annual Operating Budget - $747,685• Software Tools - Excel• Membership database size – 2,083• Membership database - Past 10 years, we are able to query in the university's

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge system, but we cannot manipulate any data for our station specific needs.

• 12-Month Donors – 1,071• 12-Month Underwriters: 42, this is higher than last year … may not be higher

revenue in this category• Average Underwriting Amount: $1200

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More RevenueWNCU - Durham, NC

• Number of Pledge Drives – 3-4

• Number of Grants – 1-2

• Reserve Fund – No

• Appealing to new donors - twice per year we reach out to lapsed donors through direct mail

• Appealing to new underwriters: We use our airwaves with a designated underwriting promo to invite corporate sponsors to contact us.

13

Revenue – ChallengesWNCU - Durham, NC

Challenges– Building a Brand that Sticks– Assessing Programming That Matters– Marketing to Enhance Programming– Membership Database for WNCU Specific– Underwriting Tracking System

14

Capacity – Strengths & ChallengesWNCU - Durham, NC

Strengths– Outsource in areas you are weak

Challenges– More skilled personnel– Funding– Assessments for Programming

and Operations

15

ParticipantsWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

Matthew Brown, Executive Director

Staci Drouillard, Development Director

2

Who do you serve? What do you offer?WTIP – Grand Marais, MN

WTIP is the first community radio station broadcasting on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Serving a geographic area that covers 1,500 square miles in remote Cook County, our local listenership includes the towns of Schroeder, Lutsen, Grand Marais, Hovland, the Grand Portage Anishinaabe Reservation and the Gunflint Trail/Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. After adding streaming capability in 2006, we continue to have a consistent on-line presence…Since our inception in 1998, the need and demand for WTIP’s services has grown tremendously. Through community support, involvement and feedback, WTIP has continually strengthened our programming, outreach and response to community needs. Our region relies on us for a wide variety of news and information--ranging from emergency response information to lost dogs. We also provide a source of entertainment for residents and visitors, including original programs hosted and created by a core group of volunteers. We provide unique programs that give voice to our unique listenership.

3

Strengthen Key Priorities WTIP – Grand Marais, MN

Initiatives Our initiative is based on 1) incorporating new innovative systems to better serve our community partners, including city and county government and area law enforcement; 2) building on our capacity to generate relevant, local news content in a timely way; 3) strengthening our ongoing youth initiatives, like the Youth Radio Project, that give a voice to young people in our community, including the Grand Portage Anishinaabe Reservation; and 4) developing long-term fundraising strategies, based on our evolving base of listener-members and business underwriters.

4

ProfileWTIP – Grand Marais, MN


• Time in the CSG program – 10+ years

• Economic Development – Stable. We operate in a tourism-based economy

with seasonal surges in the economy. We also have very high property values

and a large number of luxury/vacation homes, which creates an income level

gap between year-round residents and seasonal residents.

• Estimated Coverage Population – 5,000+; Percent Listeners - 25% to 30%,

Rural

• Content Mix – News & Information dominant with some music. Syndicated

(dominant) with some locally produced.

5

Content - ProgrammingWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

Top Local Programs1. North Shore Morning-News2. North Shore Weekend-News3. Sidetracks-Music

• Local Programming – News 28 Music +/- 40, ~ 40+%

Top Syndicated Programs1. The World Café-Music2. American Routes-Music3. As it Happens-News

6

Content – More ProgrammingWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

• Local Music Collaboration - Radio Waves – 3 Day local/regional music festival – WTIP is sole sponsor

• News Programming: We have local news and public affairs and post to our website and to Facebook

• Work with Youth – We have a great history of engaging young people. Programs include Ragamuffin Radio (1999-2002), Youth Radio Project (2004 -2017), Metal Maniacs (2008-2010), School News on WTIP, short pre-recorded pieces that air weekly during the school year.

• Emergency Preparedness – WTIP is one of the main providers of county-wide emergency information… but staying current with technology and shared information systems is always a concern.

7

Content – Website & Social MediaWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

• Streaming – 12 years• Website Users - 2,000 to 5,000 users. Average time is 3.5 minutes• Website Platform: Drupal• Website Updates - We update stories daily by team approach.• Email Subscribers: 1259• Email Frequency: Weekly• Social Media – FB 3219, Twitter and Instagram 0• Social Media posting - 2 to 6 times per week• Video - New videos posted about once monthly, based on newly created

content

8

Content – Programming & VolunteersWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

• Program Changes – Both staff and program committee make recommendations with the final say subject to the program and or executive director. Changes are made as needed based on program availability or staff issues. Changes are generally accepted by all.

• Evaluating Programmers – We have a self-evaluation that host fill out and then we go over it with them with some audio clips

• Volunteers: +/- 75, We have added volunteers for news/public affairs programs and music hosts. About 10% new.

• Software to Schedule Volunteers: We use Sign-up Genius to have volunteers pick programs to host and we will be using Donor Perfect in the future

9

Content – Volunteer StrengthsWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

• Strengths– Studio and equipment training– Great organization and sign up schedule with sign up genius– Having good basic equipment for ease of studio use– We schedule out six months at a time but make it easy to switch or alter

personal schedules

10

Content – Strengths & ChallengesWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

Strengths– We partner with local non-

profits to make content– For our volunteers we have

produced videos on how to record pieces with Tascams and how to edit with Audacity editing software

– We have Tascams and laptops available to check out to make a story

Challenges– Covering news over a large area.– Receiving new music– Playing a mix of music that

reaches several demographics

11

EngagementWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

• Events – We have on-air member drives three times a year, which include a variety of outreach, including special events. We invite the whole community to participate, in most cases. Special fundraising events have had mixed success. We do plan to continue to do outreach events, especially around specific projects, such as the Boundary Waters Podcast, the local arts festival and the annual Radio Waves Music festival, which is sponsored primarily by WTIP radio.

• Regular Feedback - We have conducted content/programming surveys in the past, but have not done a general outreach survey in a number of years. We have … conducted surveys for specific programs as recently as this summer.

12

More EngagementWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

• Results from Engagement: We recently did a survey for our 7 to 8 am Day Break program and made changes.

• Strategic Partnerships: We regularly work with North House Folk School, Boreal Media, Grand Marais Art Colony, North Shore Music Association and the Violence Prevention Center. These partnerships are a win-win for all involved.

• Emerging group - We want to increase outreach and encourage membership to everyone in our listener area who has never engaged with local radio… includes specific demographic groups (locals who don’t regularly listen, families with young children, kids, age 8 – 18, listeners who are in the 18 – 30 age range)

13

Engagement – Strengths & ChallengesWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

Strengths– We are very inclusive and offer a wide-

variety of community services to help people connect with WTIP as an independent media resource.

– Our program guide is updated regularly and has been “content-steady” for many years.

– WTIP has been volunteer-driven from the beginning.

– Engaging volunteers in local radio has been one of the most effective tools we have when it comes to long-term community engagement.

Challenges– Engaging new listeners/people who

live in our community who don’t listen.– Engaging listeners, age 18-30.– Creating a lasting relationship of

engagement with the Grand Portage Band of Anishinaabe, located 35 miles from Grand Marais, where the station is.

– Connecting “terrestrial radio” with people who no longer, or have never had a radio device.

14

RevenueWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

• Annual Operating Budget - $592,000• Software Tools - DonorPerfect (donorperfect.com), Microsoft Access, Excel• Number of Pledge Drives – 3 • Number of Grants - 3 to 6• Reserve Fund – Limited• Appealing to new donors - This is an area that we would like to improve upon,

and incorporate some new approaches designed to appeal to new donors, renewing donors and lapsed donors.

15

More RevenueWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

• Membership database size – 3,800, we have tried to track everyone who has ever donated

• 12-Month Donors - 992 + as of December 6, 2018. We see a gradual increase in membership each year.

• 12-Month New vs. Returning Donors - 992 total members in 2018 (811 renewing & 181 new). (82% Returning/18% New)

• 12-Month Underwriters: We have 137, 12-month underwriters. We added 9 new underwriters so far in 2018. (6%+ New)

• Average Underwriting Amount: $840

16

Revenue – Breakout by TypeWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

• Breakout by Type:– Membership 43%– Underwriting 33%– CSG 14%– Major Gifts 3%– Capital Campaign 7%

• Included in Membership: Sustainer Program, and Stock/Mutual Fund Gifts

• Sustainer Program accounts for 15.5% of Membership

17

Revenue – Strengths & ChallengesWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

Strengths– We are very good at saying “thank you” to

our members, volunteers and underwriters.

– A lot of our outreach is very personal in nature; personal phone calls, letters, etc.

– We have a welcoming policy when it comes to membership and business sponsorship. Everyone is welcome and donations are accepted at any level of support.

Challenges– There is a finite number of underwriters

and potential business partners because of our remote, isolated location.

– Major donors are difficult to find/reach.– Grant resources are very competitive

locally.– Our membership is very passionate about

WTIP, and many have given for 20+ years, but a high percentage of our members are in the age 60 + demographic and we’re not seeing growth among younger listeners.

– We currently do not have a strong planned giving or estate planning strategy.

18

Capacity – Strengths & ChallengesWTIP – Grand Marais, MN

Challenges– Resources cover our current capacity, but don’t support expansion.– We do have a local engineer on staff as a contractor, but we do not have a

backup engineer or apprentice to fill in.– Program and Development Committees are currently inactive.– The Station Manager for 18 years retired, and two people with a lot of

radio experience but are new to the roles of Station Manager and Development Director started this year.

19

ParticipantsWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

Jessie Dick, Station Manager

Mackenzie Martin, Features Reporter

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Who do you serve? What do you offer?WXPR – Rhinelander, WI

WXPR broadcasts to a 80 mile radius, with additional coverage in Ironwood, Michigan and Wausau, Wisconsin. Its a rural area … and has traditionally been a vacation spot for visitors from … Chicago and Minneapolis. The area struggles with rural isolation… many of the small communities feel disconnected from each other. As people change the way they vacation, the area is working to redefine itself. Some industry has developed, but it has been slow due to limited broadband and a shortage of educated workers. The area is actively marketing itself to younger people… that enjoy the recreational opportunities offered here. WXPR is included in this active marketing, as a established cultural institution.

As an NPR affiliate, WXPR … is the only radio station offering local news coverage. The station is a voice for the community, sponsors numerous community events, helps nonprofit organizations get their messages out, and supports local musicians and live music. WXPR also has over 100 active volunteers that produce 70+ hours of local music programs weekly.

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Engage Listeners with rich Northwoods ContentWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

Initiative Our goal …. is to produce … rich character driven features that make people think more deeply about the Northwoods experience, and connect them to parts of the Northwoods they’re not familiar with. …Over the past few years we have tried to develop several new initiatives, but struggle to know if the content that we produce is engaging our listeners. We've had a drop in membership numbers since 2004 and would like to know how to better serve them to complete the content, engagement, revenue circle. Our hope is to learn … about engaging listeners and apply what we've learned to other initiatives moving forward.

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ProfileWXPR – Rhinelander, WI


• Time in the CSG program – 25+ years

• Economic Development – Stable. We have become a larger retirement

community and have a difficult time finding workers to fill skilled jobs. We

struggle with keeping the retirement demographic happy while also trying to

attract a younger audience.

• Estimated Coverage Population: 170,000, 10% listeners, Rural

• Content Mix – Music dominant with some news & information. Locally-


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Content - ProgrammingWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

Top Local Programs1. Polka- Music

2. Blues- Music3. Northwoods Cafe- Music (AAA)

• Local Programming – 71 hours/week, ~ 40+%

Top Syndicated Programs1. Morning Edition- News

2. All Things Considered- News3. Weekend Edition- News

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Content – More ProgrammingWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

• Local Music Collaboration - Our annual concert series is a collaboration with the local community college. We also partner with the local arts center to record and rebroadcast a singer/ songwriter series. We air a local music hour once every two weeks where we welcome local musicians to play and chat. We also cosponsor a music series with two local nonprofit concert venues. We are also launching a music festival and working with the arts center, community college and chamber.

• Work with Youth – We're slowly starting to. We offer tours to school groups and record local choirs and bands. This year we partnered with an high school English class for our version of the Great Thanksgiving Listen.

• Emergency Preparedness – Concerned. We cover a large area with only one staff member living within walking distance of the station. We recently added a backup studio at our tower site.

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Content – Website & Social MediaWXPR – Rhinelander, WI


• Webstream Users per Month: 100-400

• Website Users - 50,000 pg views, 20,000 engaged mins, average engaged time :20

• Website Updates - Daily with a team approach.

• Email Subscribers: 1293

• Email Frequency: A few times a year. Before events and pledge drives.

• Social Media – FB 2243, Twitter 812, Instagram 258

• Social Media posting - Daily

• More info about Social Media - Our Membership Director has a background in social media marketing. It has made a major difference….

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Content – Programming & VolunteersWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

• Program Changes – Program decisions are brought to our community advisory board for their feedback, but ultimately are made by the staff. Generally volunteers are receptive to change once the reason for change is discussed. Program changes are made when we have difficulty filling a show, have an increase in show rates, or if changes are made to a show (APHC) or have little support during drives.

• Volunteers: 50 on-air volunteer hosts and around 50 pledge drive and office volunteers, 15% new, 85% returning, we have had a few new and younger volunteers join the station!

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Content – Volunteer StrengthsWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

• Strengths– Other hosts recruiting new hosts usually works the best– Open houses and tours– On-air announcements about specific show host needs– We added a program called Open Turntable. Where a volunteer can bring

in a friend or community member and have them host while they run the board.

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Content – Strengths & ChallengesWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

Strengths– Try to cover news topics that

apply to the entire region.– Have new volunteers train and

sit with experienced hosts, not just staff.

– Understand that your specific taste does not always reflect the audience

Challenges– Covering news over a large area.– Receiving new music– Playing a mix of music that

reaches several demographics

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EngagementWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

• Events – We try to jump on events organized by others and aim to keep them music related. The station did a lot of outreach when it started and then it wasn't a priority for many years. We have re-energized the effort recently, aiming to attract new listeners. We are out in the community a few times a month and more in the summer/ festival season. We think they are successful and try to have volunteers attend as many as possible, so staff time isn't always tied up.

• Regular Feedback - We've received information from UW extension and state studies. As GM I've recently been invited to several discussions about community =development. WXPR wasn't included in these discussions before.

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More EngagementWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

• Results from Engagement: We notice a huge response to events that involve Polka, Blues and Bluegrass. We also hear from the younger demographic that they don't know who we are…

• Strategic Partnerships: We recently started a collaboration with 3 other community organizations to start a music and arts festival. We avoided this in the past… Now we're trying to reach out across the community.

• Emerging group - A younger demographic and the Native American Community… We have just started the effort of communicating with local Native American musicians and developing a specific segment during our local programming. One of our volunteers began the outreach. We have also started to actively recruit younger hosts through our younger volunteers. We have started to evolve our programming and event sponsorships towards a younger demographic too.

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Engagement – Strengths & ChallengesWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

Strengths– Involve volunteers. People love to

meet on-air hosts.– Cosponsoring events done by

others. You get the exposure, but don't have to do the work.

– Posting our news stories on social media has created a space for community members to discuss issues. Sometimes it's not always pretty, but we've created a space for them.

Challenges– Knowing who our audience is.– Evaluating special events and effort.– The size of our listening area. We

are very focused on the area where our station is and not the entire area.

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RevenueWXPR – Rhinelander, WI


• Software Tools - Abila

• Membership database size – 13,365

• Membership database – 20 years of data, We've had to customize for the leadership and sustainer programs. The reports are tricky to run. It isn't matched with our credit card processing.

• 12-Month Donors - 1753 and lower than last year• 12-Month New vs. Returning Donors - 236 new, 1517 returning, (13.5% new/

86.5% returning), $67 Avg. gift.

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More RevenueWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

• 12-Month Underwriters: 19 and higher • Average Underwriting Amount: $410• Number of Pledge Drives – 3 and usually a one day in December• New Activities - We have launched an open mic and community music

festival. We scaled back our Major Donor events due to lack of attendance.• Number of Grants - 4 or 5• Reserve Fund – Yes• Appealing to new donors - We aim a lot of our messaging towards new

donors during our pledge drive. We do a special mailing to lapsed donors.

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Revenue – Breakout by TypeWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

• Breakout by Type:– Membership 48%– Stocks and Mutual Fund Gifting 1%– Underwriting 16%– Grants 12%– CSG 12%– Endowment Fund 2%– Other - Leased 9%

• Included in Membership: Sustainer Program, Special Events and Major Giving

• Major Giving accounts for 25% of Membership; Sustainer Program 19% and Special Events 12%

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Revenue – Strengths & ChallengesWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

Strengths– Hiring a trained sales person to

sell underwriting.– Adding a one day drive in

December– Peer to peer fundraising. Hosts

encouraging family & friends to pledge …

Challenges– Establishing major donor giving– A board that doesn't fundraise– Labor involved in maintaining

sustainer program– Finding grants– Drop in membership numbers

but not dollars

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Organizational CapacityWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

• Strategic Plan – Yes. We did a 5 year plan through 2020 and recently drafted a one year plan for just 2019.


• Other Organizations - Greater Public, PRIMO, NV1, NPR, APM, WBA

• Solution Center - Volunteer training, interns, working with other nonprofits, strategic planning info, mission statements.

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Capacity – Strengths & ChallengesWXPR – Rhinelander, WI

Strengths– We've created a culture and pay

scale that keeps the staff engaged and dedicated.

– Promoting from within.– Adjusting job descriptions to fit

the skills of a talented employee

Challenges– Retiring Staff– Finding skilled engineering

knowledge– Shortage of Management &

Leadership Training opportunities

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cohort participants · 2019-01-22 · 1 1 cohort participants 1. kbft –nett lake, mn - george...

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