Mark Stanislawski, President & CEO

Dear SOPTV Viewer,

Since the mid-70′s public television stations pooled their resources to develop a nationally coordinated approach for on-air fundraising called "Festival."

Times have changed, but the basic premise endures. Televised membership drives work because of the special relationship and appreciation viewers have for public television programming. When we appeal for viewer contributions after a program, there is almost a 100% probability that the viewers we’re speaking to just finished watching and enjoying that program. That’s why pledge drives continue to be the most efficient and effective means to encourage viewers to become supporting members.

Today, viewers’ pledges of financial support during on-air drives accounts for a little over 17% of SOPTV’s projected revenues this year. But when you consider the number of active members who renew via mail that first joined SOPTV during a past pledge drive, that figure is over 90%.

"Pledging" is uniquely American

Unlike public service broadcasters in other countries, public broadcasting in the United States has a distinctively different funding model which largely depends on individual and community support. Smaller stations (with smaller budgets) like SOPTV have a higher proportion of federal support (38%) than larger stations like KQED in San Francisco or Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland.

While we’re hopeful federal funding will remain stable this year, we have experienced cuts in each of the last two fiscal years, which makes your individual support that much more important to the programs you enjoy.

In England, the public service broadcasting (the BBC) is paid as tax for receiving television. That works out to some $250 USD per year per household! In comparison, funding for public broadcasting (television and radio) in the United States amounts to about $1.30 per taxpayer.

So, pledge continues to be a critically important–and very visible–part of our funding. Overall membership support provides nearly half of SOPTV’s total operating budget. This is why every pledge and every member matters.

Your Pledge Counts!

Your contribution makes a HUGE difference in the service we provide to all viewers in southern Oregon and northern California.

Being able to use our broadcast service to talk to you about the importance of your continuing support SOPTV is a privilege, and we make every effort to be as efficient as possible! Thanks for your understanding and support of SOPTV!

Mark Stanislawski
President & CEO (and a proud 24 year veteran of Pledge Drives), SOPTV

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