How Christian Radio Can Get More Underwriting

There are three primary ways to fund everything we do, right?

Advertising, underwriting, and listener giving (I'd argue there are more, but that's for another FaithBright).

What if I could tell you you could get more underwriting dollars without sacrificing a lot more on-air time and without a lot more trouble?

Sounds like one of those YouTube "click here" offers, doesn't it? But it's not.

Recently a digital startup I'm having some conversations with told me they have an almost 100% success rate at getting investor dollars (their version of underwriting) if they do certain things and an almost 0% success rate if they don't.

What in the world are they doing that works so well?

Well, this company creates visual digital stories, and whenever they built a story about the specific investor, boom. The money rolled in. And whenever they only offered a good pitch, nada.

In other words, when the investor saw themselves in the product and the pitch, they bought. And when they didn't, they didn't.

One of the services I offer is what I'm calling "Underwriter Impact Studies." These are surveys of underwriters, potential underwriters, and listener fans. The purpose is to assess:

1. Why underwriters financially support your brand
2. Specific case studies of increased business resulting from underwriter financial support of your brand
3. Problems of potential underwriters that could be solved by integrating with your brand
4. Actual listener metrics - attitudes, perceptions, and consumer behavior - that result from underwriter association with your brand

In other words, underwriters who work with your ministry can see exactly the positive impact their association with you makes on the listeners to your brand. They will see how that association influences listener behavior in the marketplace and the positive consequences for their business overall. In other words, they will see that an investment with you is good business for them. They will see themselves in your pitch.

Potential underwriters will see the measurable difference that their association with your brand could make on listener attitudes and preferences for their brand (compare that to the overwhelmingly negative association listeners to commercial stations have for typical advertising). They, too, will see themselves in your pitch.

Listeners will see that messages from underwriters with a sincere commitment to your brand are valued, appreciated, trusted, and persuasive. That is a perspective that will be important to share at fundraising time when some listeners question the presence or volume of underwriting on your air.

Meanwhile we would also measure the form of underwriting messages and integration and which create the most value to listeners and underwriters, alike.

Underwriters need to see themselves in your pitch. They need to hear the voices of listeners in your argument.

In so doing you not only attract more underwriters, you increase the value of every underwriter investment and justify the kind of premium rate that Christian radio deserves.

Mark Ramsey Media does audience research for Christian Media - Perceptual research, digital studies, donor studies, underwriter impact studies, music studies, etc. Learn more here. Call Mark at 858-414-4191 or email markramsey@mac.com.

And if you want a strategy to solicit major donors to pay for your research, look here and download this Listener Impact Study solicitation for donors from WAKW-FM.

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