There is no question that in today's economy there is an emerging need for Public Radio to seek out new sources of revenue. While the value of public radio as the source for news and information is being recognized - especially in relation to the economic crisis - financial support is, unfortunately, reflective of the reality of what's in everyone's pocketbook.

On-air promotion, like any kind of programming, has to be actively managed to be effective. Good promotion encourages people to keep listening, to tune in again later, while reinforcing their relationship with the station. The following, written by DEI's Marketing Advisor, Israel Smith, shares ideas, techniques, and insights on Optimum Effective Scheduling.   An OES Primer

Voice Broadcasting Increases Giving   Development professionals area always looking for new ways to increase giving. Public Broadcasting Atlanta, has implemented a technique that combines the warmth of the human voice with the speed of email by Voice Broadcasting specific messages to targeted call lists.

Most stations share a common checklist for a strong event. The idea has to be appealing to a broad audience spectrum, the potential for revenue has to be significant, staff effort moderate, and if fun is involved, that's never a bad thing. DEI heard about some work St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU was doing hosting an annual Trivia Night. Phil Donato, the station's Marketing, Events, & Outreach Manager gave us the lowdown.

 A top priority for any major giving program is identifying your best prospects. To build a good prospect pool, you are going to look both inside and outside of your database. Thanks to strong membership practices at most public radio stations, you have a great place to start. Current members are the ideal prospects to populate your major giving pool. However, you want to be selective and look at specific criteria to identify the most promising candidates.

Wisconsin Public Radio began to seriously address plans to generate funds from online media in 2007. According to Development Department IT Services Manager, Matthew Tift, they've poised to launch their first web banner ad sales.

The renewal letter series is designed to generate a 50% renewal response within the first two drops. As long as your last notice is generating net proceeds and is a higher response rate than lapsed mail, you can continue to add additional "hits" to the series. Preparing your renewal series is a multi-step process which includes:

New Federal Trade Commission guidelines on "endorsements and testimonials" became effective on December 1, 2009. The purpose of these new guidelines is to impose disclosure requirements, similar to FCC "payola" requirements, on all media. The guidelines not only apply to broadcasts, but to podcasts, blogs, Facebook postings and other social media.

As a result of the current world financial crisis, nonprofit organizations of all types are rightfully asking questions about what they can do to help ensure their organization will survive what is being termed the most negative financial environment since the Great Depression. While there are no absolute answers, there are several things organizations can, and in some cases must, do to stay afloat. Paul Ideker, Consultant with Arts Consulting Group, provides this guide for cultural organizations.