Do you have to do them? Are they really necessary? Do people even listen? Wouldn't it be better for the station if you didn't do them? Do people really call and pledge money?
Yes. Yes. Yes. No. Yes.
We do have to do them because more than 50% of the money we receive to operate KSER comes from listeners. And much of that money comes in during our pledge drives. So yes, they are necessary and we know people listen because, thankfully, they call and pledge money. So if we didn't do pledge drives, KSER just wouldn't be able to operate.
But, like everything else, you have to put things in perspective.
We do three pledge drives a year - Spring, Summer, Fall. Each pledge drive is just nine days long. That means every year we're doing pledge drives for 27 days. 338 days out of the year there are no pledge drives on KSER. (339 in leap year!)
Compare that to a commercial station and the ads they run. Commercial stations play commercials 365 days a year. Zero days commercial free, compared to our 338 pledge-free days.
We do occasionally receive the 'please stop talking and get back to the music' phone call. But put that in perspective, too. We do 4 or 5 three-minute 'pledge breaks' each hour. Compare that to commercial stations which frequently run a commercial break that is 7 or 8 minutes long several times an hour. Some stations run more than 18 minutes of commercials every hour, every day, all year long.
The other sometimes not-so-obvious issue with all those commercials is the 'clout' the advertisers may have. Even PBS may have succumbed to corporate pressure.
The truly good thing about pledge drives for radio stations like KSER is the fact that it is YOUR opportunity to support an independent community voice. KSER is your station. We don't have a corporate owner or out-of-town consultants. Everyone involved with the station - board members, volunteers, staff - are all doing this to serve the community. To provide an independent voice that is not tied to corporate interests or control. And we can only do that if the community continues to provide support.
And pledge drives can even be fun. This Saturday, October 5th from noon to 3 p.m. we're once again having a free cookout in the KSER parking lot at 2623 Wetmore Ave in Everett. In the summer we served hot dogs, this time it's brats as a nod to October. You could make your important donation in person and meet your favorite KSER Saturday DJ's!
Of course if you can't make it to the station you can call anytime during the pledge drive, or, just go to KSER.org and make a pledge online. If everyone who regularly listens to KSER would go online once a year and make a $35 pledge, we'd never have to do pledge drives.
Fact: most people listen and never donate. But that's okay. That's why we count on special people like you who are willing to support independent public radio. Thanks!
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