The end of civilization as we know it…

….or has it already ended?

Young people responding to this post on Oregon Media Insiders do not understand what all the fuss is about.

clipped from www.nytimes.com Name-brand products make regular appearances on television shows, where they are typically written into a drama, comedy or reality program. “American Idol” viewers, for example, have come to expect to see a Coke cup in front of Simon Cowell as he dresses down contestants. But TV news? In recent weeks, anchors on the Fox affiliate in Las Vegas, KVVU, sit with cups of McDonald’s iced coffee on their desks during the news-and-lifestyle portion of their morning show. The anchors rarely touch the cups. Executives at the station, one of 12 owned by Meredith Corporation, say the six-month promotion is meant to shore up advertising revenue and, as they told the news staff, will not influence content.

How to handle bad news

The NY Times reports that two groups, Acorn and Points of Light Institute, discovered embezzlement. Points of Light Institute notified Federal authorities and put a statement on its website letting the public know about the problem. Acorn kept it quiet.

clipped from www.nytimes.com Acorn chose to treat the embezzlement of nearly $1 million eight years ago as an internal matter and did not even notify its board. After Points of Light noticed financial irregularities in early June, it took less than a month for management to alert federal prosecutors, although group officials say they have no clear idea yet what the financial impact may be.

The embezzlement was discovered in 2001 and not disclosed, the Times reported, because the family of the accused, Dale Rathke, the brother of Acorn’s then-CEO, agreed to restitution in exchange for confidentiality.

Points of Light is likely to emerge in fairly good shape, we believe, while Acorn will spend years trying to overcome the scandal. When confronted with a serious problem, a public organization does better if it comes clean with its donors and supporters and takes ameliorative action.

Raising more by asking for less

This headline is a bit misleading, for reasons you’ll see, but the lesson is important. Six public radio stations in FY 07 raised more revenue by lowering price barriers to first-year members. Instead of just emphasizing high dollar amounts, they emphasized “participation” and consciously promoted their basic member rate. They increased new on-air gifts, overall on-air gifts, and on-air revenue. Moreover, they raised revenue and donors by significantly more than other stations.

At the same time, an acquisition direct mail test in DEI’s 3MG campaign the test stations to keep their ask amount at $35. The test produced outstanding results, and an A/B test of the price point at one station increased first-year donors without any dimunition of revenue.

Particularly in this economy, you can attract new donors and even increase net revenue by not pushing too hard for a high average gift. (This is not new, but perhaps stations are more willing to test such concepts in troubled economic conditions.)

At the same time, many of the public radio stations in the on-air group managed to increase high-end gifts by asking for them during the same on-air breaks. It wasn’t that they asked for less–they asked for as much as they ever had–but they also  sought basic gifts and emphasized inclusiveness.

Those organizations that make participation affordable may emerge from this economic slowdown with more donors and can then turn to donor development  that will ultimately pay off.

Target Index shows donor and revenue decline

The National Index of Fundraising performance, published quarterly by Target Analytics, shows a continued decline in donors to national organizations—which is not news—but a revenue decline through the first quarter of 2008—which is. Target has not recorded a revenue decline for two-and-a-half years. Increases in the average gift have kept revenue increasing until now, Target reports, and while revenue per donor did increase in the latest Index, the pace was insufficient to increase revenue.

(Full disclosure: We serve as consultants to Target on donorCentrics reports for public radio and television and produce an annual State of the System Report for public radio based on Target data.)