Fundraising Tips
As most of you would know, maintaining a radio station is not cheap and good fundraising is important to keep your station on the air. Below are just a few ways to help raise funds.
Sponsors
Sponsors are one of the main income streams for a community radio station. Most stations offer there sponsors 30 second spots and the amount of sponsorship paid is usually determined by the number of listeners and/or the amount of exposure the sponsor gets. Below we will give you some ideas on how to maximise the amount of income you get through sponsors through increasing your sponsors exposure. Increasing sponsor exposure not only increases the income from each sponsor but encourages new sponsors to get on board.
Sponsor Messages:
Offering 30 second blocks to sponsors according to their budget is a great way to raise money. The sponsoring business is exactly that "a business" they are out to make money by providing a service. This being said businesses choose to sponsor community radio for a number of reasons, and it helps if your sales team are aware of these reasons and can point them out when looking for new sponsors.
- How much potential does sponsorship have of generating more customers and sales.
- Most listeners of community radio believe in its purpose and will favour businesses who support the station that they enjoy listening to.
- Community radio reaches a large section of the community that commercial stations do not.
- Majority of people will spend more time listening to radio then they will watching television, radio can be listened to in the car on the way to and from work, in places of business, in the shower, on walks, bike rides or jogging, radio goes where television doesn't.
- Supporting a worthy cause that provides a service to the community shows potential customers that the business is not only about profit but putting something back into the community that it serves, being able to claim "proudly supporting community radio" helps potential customers to feel better about supporting their business. Why not provide stickers to your sponsors to display in their window, it shows customers that the business supports you and also increases your stations exposure.
These are just some of the reasons, and each of them can be helpful when approaching potential sponsors.
Additional Exposure for Sponsors
OK, so now we know why businesses choose to sponsor community radio, lets look at some optional extras that you can offer your sponsors for increasing the amount of money they already invest in your station.
- If your station sends regular mail outs to its members try offering sponsorship messages in your mail outs, businesses will like this method because you can provide them with numbers. (ie how many newsletters are mailed out and how frequently)
- If your station has a web site offer sponsor placement on your website, this is a great option especially if you use your broadcasts to promote the website and your website to promote the station. This gives businesses an option to have a sponsorship message on your site which can either provide contact details or link direct to the businesses website. More information about how to cheaply setup a website and/or use it as a fundraising tool is available below under the "Website" heading
- Consider offering exclusive sponsorship rights on your prime time shows this means that the business buys all available sponsor slots for the show plus pays extra for the exclusive rights to the show. This is perfect for a drive time style show.
I am sure there are many other ways to offer additional exposure, if you have any additional ideas you would like to share on this page please feel free to contact us.
Website
In today's world, a website plays a huge role in every business and community organisation or charity. A website is your window to the world, as a radio station you can use your website as an extension of your station. Your website can generate listeners, and your station can generate traffic to your website. Not only does this give your sponsors more exposure but it provides a more complete service to your listening audience. Your website can be used to provide programming information, further information on topics discussed on talk back shows or news segments, provide further information on community announcements that are airing on your station, providing more detailed weather information to your listeners, promote and generate additional membership for your station, promote the benefits of volunteering at your station and generate more volunteers and so much more.
Setting Up Your Website
It is cheap enough to obtain your domain name (ie www.mystation.org.au) and somewhere to store your site. A .org.au domain name from NBS Australia is only $29.90 and hosting of your website starts from $9.95 per month or $99.50 per year.
Finding someone to design your site and keep it up-to-date can be expensive but NBS Australia can help. NBS Australia has agreed to design and update your site free as long as your station is a Community Radio and registered as non-profit organisation and has been incorporated as such. The only condition to this service being provided free is that you purchase your domain name and hosting from them. For more information on this offer please feel free to call Bill McLean directly on (0404) 28 66 94.
Bill has a special interest in community radio and has previously worked as a volunteer at a number of community radio stations, including managing Dalby Community Radio for a period of time. He believes in community radios purpose and importance to a community and will be more then happy to help you build your station up by means of assisted with your website.
Live Streaming
If your budget allows you may even wish to find a streaming service and provide a live feed of your radio station from your website meaning listeners outside your broadcast area can tune in and listen to your station over the internet. Streaming can be great for friends and relatives of announcers to listen to the announcers show, or on the grander scale you can promote your live stream and build a large base of listeners online from around the country or the world. What it will mean for your station if you decide to promote your live stream is that as your national listener base increases, you will be able to seek sponsorship from national sponsors, big businesses that spend big dollars on advertising may now be interested in channelling some of those big dollars into sponsoring your station.