Pledge drive
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A pledge drive is an extended period of
fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
activities, generally used by
public broadcasting Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
stations to increase contributions. The term "
pledge Pledge may refer to: Promises * a solemn promise * Abstinence pledge, a commitment to practice abstinence, usually teetotalism or chastity * The Pledge (New Hampshire), a promise about taxes by New Hampshire politicians * Pledge of Allegianc ...
" originates from the promise that a contributor makes to send in funding at regular intervals for a certain amount of time. During a pledge drive, regular and special programming is followed by on-air appeals for pledges by station employees, who ask the audience to make their contributions, usually by phone or the Internet, during this break. Pledge drives are typically held two to four times annually, at calendar periods which vary depending on the scheduling designated by the local public broadcasting station.


Background

Pledge drives are especially common among U.S. stations. Public broadcasting organizations like
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
(NPR) and the
Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...
(PBS) are largely dependent on program fees paid by their member stations. The federal government of the United States provides some money for them, primarily through the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, ...
(CPB), and corporate
underwriting Underwriting (UW) services are provided by some large financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies and investment houses, whereby they guarantee payment in case of damage or financial loss and accept the financial risk for liabilit ...
. American public broadcasting services hold pledge drives about two to three times each year, each one usually lasting one to two weeks. Some religious broadcasting organizations, including
Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...
(which operates the K-Love and Air1 radio networks), also rely heavily on such program fees. These stations require funding in turn from listeners and viewers (as well as, if necessary, local corporate sponsors) for not only these fees, but also other daily
operating cost Operating costs or operational costs, are the expenses which are related to the operation of a business, or to the operation of a device, component, piece of equipment or facility. They are the cost of resources used by an organization just to main ...
s, and stage regular pledge drives in an attempt to persuade their audiences to contribute
donations A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as b ...
. Originally, such programming consisted of arts presentations such as classical music, drama, and documentaries. However, the audience for supposedly "high-brow" fare began declining steadily during the 1980s and 1990s, due to the attrition of the generations to whom such programming mainly appealed. Younger people were less interested in the higher arts, for a variety of reasons having to do with the eclipse of "high culture" in American society. In order to appeal to such a largely Euro-American, middle-aged and affluent demographic (the so-called "
Baby Boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. Th ...
" and "
Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western world, Western demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years a ...
"), PBS has resorted to specials such as
self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...
programs with speakers such as
Suze Orman Susan Lynn "Suze" Orman ( ; born June 5, 1951) is an American financial advisor, author, and podcast host. In 1987, she founded the Suze Orman Financial Group. Her work as a financial advisor gained notability with ''The Suze Orman Show'', which ...
, nostalgic
popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...
concerts (including T. J. Lubinsky's ''My Music'' concert series, produced specifically for pledge drive airings), and special versions of PBS' traditionally popular "how-to" programs. This approach was largely pioneered by the
Oklahoma Educational Television Authority The Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The authority operates as a statutory corporation that holds the licenses for all of the PBS stati ...
(OETA), which introduced a number of popular music specials as part of its 1987 pledge drive. A retrospective on ''
The Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 195 ...
'' was originally introduced as pledge drive material in 1987; its popularity prompted the OETA to acquire
rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word ...
rights to the series and distribute it through PBS. A hallmark of pledge breaks is the "pledge room", where the speakers deliver their message as
volunteering Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group wikt:gratis, freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. O ...
individuals answer ringing telephones in the background, though in some cases, it may actually be a fictionalized part of the program (noticeable if the pledge room is drastically different from program to program and is neutralized, featuring none of the member station's logos within the set dressing), with the volunteers actually paid actors feigning telephone calls and the hosts having been filmed months before. Small prizes such as mugs,
tote bag A tote bag is a large and often unfastened bag with parallel handles that emerge from the sides of its pouch. Totes are often used as reusable shopping bags. The archetypal tote bag is made of sturdy cloth, perhaps with thick leather at its handl ...
s, various DVD sets, and books (known as "thank-you" gifts or, euphemistically, as " premiums"), as well as entries into drawings for larger awards such as trips and vehicles donated by local businesses, are also offered by many stations in return for pledging certain amounts of money. The pledges can be done by either paying per month or a one-time contribution, e.g. $15 a month or $180.


Controversy

Pledge drives have been controversial for most of their existence. While pledge drives are an effective method of raising money for stations, they usually annoy viewers and listeners, who find the regular interruption of what is ordinarily
commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
-free content and the station's regular programming being suspended for lifestyle and music specials to be a nuisance. Audience numbers often decline during pledge drives; to compensate, most television stations air special
television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
s during these
fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
periods. This practice began in earnest in the mid-1970s due to CPB funding cutbacks that were the result of political pressures and the recessions of the time, as well as increasing
inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
. As the proportions of government funding in stations' budgets continued to decline over time, such programs became more elaborate in order to sway people who would otherwise watch public television only sporadically (or not at all) to tune in, and possibly donate money in response to appeals during program breaks. There has also been criticism of the format depending on controversial
self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...
writers or lecturers not usually a part of any regular PBS member station's schedule, or if the presented program is targeted to appeal only to a wealthy and/or older demographic (as seen with '' Doo Wop 50'') while completely ignoring the viewing needs of other audiences. Stations also have had to reckon with balancing out or dispensing with pledge drives entirely during
PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, ...
children's programming, as due to their very nature, the disruption of a routine, for a matter children are unable to understand or contribute to, could drive push those young viewers towards commercial children's programming on other networks or Internet streaming. Generally speaking, the phenomenon is less pronounced on American public radio stations, primarily because of the high popularity of the news and talk programs on that medium and the routine-based patterns of radio listeners that are much more easily disrupted than those of television, along with stricter
underwriting Underwriting (UW) services are provided by some large financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies and investment houses, whereby they guarantee payment in case of damage or financial loss and accept the financial risk for liabilit ...
guidelines and less tolerance for the television formats and hosts on radio. Much of the focus is placed upon the "drive time" NPR news programs ''
Morning Edition ''Morning Edition'' is an American radio news program produced and distributed by NPR. It airs weekday mornings (Monday through Friday) and runs for two hours, and many stations repeat one or both hours. The show feeds live from 5:00 to 9:00 AM ...
'' and ''
All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
'', which have the highest ratings of all public broadcasting in the U.S. This is in contrast to PBS member stations sometimes holding their drives during prime time daily and on weekend afternoons, and not during the daytime on weekdays or weekend mornings, when children's programming is typically scheduled. However, in light of intense competition public broadcasting faces from a greatly expanded media environment, other stations, especially radio, have aimed to eliminate pledge drives altogether, or significantly reduce their length, by asking for contributions throughout the year during regular station identification breaks. On radio, such programs as ''ATC'' may have one of their planned stories deleted simply to extend the length of the fund-raising "pitches". In a more recent trend, some stations also advertise that pledge drives will be shortened by one day for every day's worth of contributions donated in the weeks leading up to a drive. Additionally, some radio stations have started using prospect screening during their pledge drive to identify potential major donors for later
fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
activities. Another service which has cut down pledge drives is the introduction of PBS's Passport streaming service, which provides a tangible and continuing item (full streaming access to several years of PBS's programs) with a monthly or yearly contribution, rather than a one-time premium.


See also

*
Telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...
*
Underwriting spot An underwriting spot, known as sponsor credit ( ja, 提供クレジット, Teikyō kurejitto) in Japan, is an announcement made on public broadcasting outlets, especially in the United States, in exchange for funding. These spots usually men ...
* "
The Pledge Drive "The Pledge Drive" is the 89th episode of NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. This was the third episode of the sixth season. It aired on October 6, 1994. The episode revolves around Jerry, George, and Kramer's volunteer efforts with a PBS pledge drive. ...
" an episode of ''
Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
'' about a
WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...
pledge drive * " The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS", an episode of ''
Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
'' also featuring a WNET pledge drive and guest-starring Gary Collins as the drive's host


References


External links

* {{Cite web , title=The Secret of Yanni's Surprise Success: Viewers Like You , url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-02-13/secret-yanni-s-surprise-success-viewers-you , others=Evan Chung (producer) , work=
Studio 360 ''Studio 360'' was an American weekly public radio program about the arts and culture hosted by novelist Kurt Andersen and produced by Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and ''Slate'' in New York City. The program's stated goal was to "Get inside the ...
, date=13 February 2020 , publisher= Public Radio International , access-date=16 February 2020 , postscript=. On the use of music in and the explosion growth of pledge drives on American public television. Philanthropy Publicly funded broadcasters Telethons