I hate the time of the year when Colorado Public Radio (CPR) does its fund drives. It drives me crazy to have my favorite programs interrupted with the same patter about giving even after I have called in a pledge. I’ll bet it is not the time of year that the staff at CPR looks forward to either, because it disrupts their work schedule.
Why is it that CPR’s 470,000 listeners across Colorado support it so poorly with their giving? Would it surprise you to know that only 33,000 people give? What about the other 440,000 who eavesdrop without giving a dime? The people at CPR have the scientific answer to this phenomenon, but I have a few other hunches.
First of all, I think a lot of people really get turned off by the fundraising. They simply hate those pledge drives. The constant and agonizing repeat of the information of what CPR offers to the community, along with the website and phone number to make a pledge, causes people to decide they can turn the radio off for 10 days or two weeks during the drive.
Along with CPR, public television also puts on pledge drives. When consumers get a double whammy, their resistance increases.
Second, there is the Doug Lamborn effect. This is the congressman from the 5th District of Colorado who thinks that all federal funding for public radio and television should be cut off. After the head of National Public Radio, Vivian Schiller resigned, Lamborn said, “This latest development in what appears to be an internal meltdown at National Public Radio only strengthens my resolve to eliminate all federal funding for public broadcasting.”
Many people mix up NPR and CPR because they are so closely aligned. In fact, the local affiliate buys its programming from NPR. It costs money to purchase “Morning Edition,” “Talk of the Nation,” “Car Talk,” “Fresh Air,” “All Things Considered” and other shows.
Lamborn thinks NPR represents a “liberal” point of view. If any one of the 440,000 listeners of CPR who don’t pay their share are abstaining because of that, it is one too many. Why are they listening anyway?
The third reason people don’t give to CPR is because it looks and acts like a commercial radio station. With all their underwriters, it is not commercial-free. The underwriters get a fair amount of time on the air. Over the years, CPR has done a great job getting more and more businesses to support the station.
The programs that CPR buys from NPR are full of underwriters, too. The commercials flow freely through the day, whether it is Angie’s List or Lumber Liquidators. It is very difficult to get away from plugs from people or firms that appear to be paying for the on-the-air programming.
In spite of all these reason why people might not give to CPR, I give willingly. Its local coverage of news is superior, and the “Colorado Matters” program keeps me informed. The money I give is an investment in all the programs CPR buys from NPR. The network keeps me informed of world events because of the reporters who are stationed all over the world. That is enough to make me a devoted listener.
In the Bible, it says that “each man should give what he has decided to give in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” I guess it would be naïve to think that CPR will find a few more cheerful givers like me.
I know some of those 440,000 listeners who do not send in a pledge, and nothing will make them pay up. So I guess I send in my contribution and then put up with the irritating pledge drives every six months. It is the least I can do.
David A. Becker (evadgorf@comcast.net) of Pueblo is a reviewer of religion books who runs an Internet bookstore.
