Stations that have gone through the MGI sessions report feeling energized and ready to jump-start their major giving programs. We want to be sure to capture this enthusiasm and share any successes and new ideas. Do you have a major giving success story? By letting us tell your story on this page, you will encourage other stations to continue their major giving efforts. Simply write up your story and .

TITLE | The Quest for Engagement and Knowledge

GOALS | In 2005, KQED embarked on Quest, a new multi-platform project that will educate and enlighten our community about the science and environmental resources, issues, and discoveries that surround us in our own Northern California neighborhoods. The project includes a weekly 5-8 minute radio news report broadcast locally during NPR's Morning Edition; a weekly 30-minute television magazine program airing on KQED before NOVA; an interactive website that will support the tv and radio broadcasts and include additional original content; and an on-line education resource center that will include viewer guides and activities and promote KQED teacher workshops. By using all of our media assets together in this coordinated way, and by drawing on the expertise and resources of our Bay Area science and nature community organization partners, KQED will maximize the impact of Quest content on formal and informal educators, students, and the general public.

To give the program adequate time to establish itself as a relevant and engaging community resource, our goal was to secure significant multi-year grants toward a total of $7.7 million dollars, to cover the first three years of production.

PROCESS | Quest is the most complex and comprehensive multiplatform project that KQED has attempted. It involves all four KQED platforms (radio, television, interactive, and educational outreach) and a community-based advisory panel, and represents the culmination of lessons learned through other, smaller scale multiplatform, local initiatives undertaken in the past four years. To ensure the success of this endeavor, we first sought and secured a $1 million R&D grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which allowed KQED to convene 12 premier San Francisco Bay Area science, technology, and education organizations (our advisors) six times over the course of a year to discuss the vision and scope of project, including outcomes and outputs. With this broad-based community input, KQED producers were able to create truly collaborative, thoroughly researched, community-driven pilots for radio, television, web, and education that both established the project's editorial voice and provided invaluable collateral for the fundraising team. In collaboration, we were able to identify the unique capabilities KQED could bring to the table as a local media organization and fill the role of convener of these groups, which no other group has been able to fulfill.

Part of the R&D process included the development of a solid fundraising strategy, which allotted one year to raise three years of project support before starting production. Fundraising started in December 2005; as of July 2006, we have raised $6.7 million and expect to have fundraising complete and pre-production starting by September 2006.

RESULTS | One of the most important lessons learned through this process was the value of R&D grants for identifying a clear community need and developing plans to address it head on, and, thus, ensuring the long-term success of the project. For example, our extensive R&D process so firmly grounded the project in research and established important community buy-in that the majority of Quest funders made three-year commitments to the project and many became themselves engaged in completing funding, such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation which graciously hosted a lunch with funder prospects, and others who have served as references for prospective funders.

Cross-platform projects, engaging two or more of KQED's four platforms, are not new for the station: for the past four years, our local arts initiative, Spark, has successfully linked tv, web, and community outreach to promote local artists and arts organizations, encourage greater participation in the arts by our viewers, and supplement community and school-based arts education. Through Quest, which was built on the best practices of Spark, we learned that linking thematically aligned content and outreach among different KQED platforms into coordinated, comprehensive, community-based initiatives with a finely honed and developed mission statement, is also a powerful strategy for attracting multi-year support. This enormously successful, community-supported and mission-based approach has already been used in the construction of two more multiplatform initiatives that have garnered important multi-year support, KQED's Health Initiative (three-year initiative, raised $930,000 to date) and Immigration Initiative (18-month initiative, raised $640,000 to date).

IMPACT | The Quest project will complete KQED Television's "local strip" — a block of original, local content every week night, Monday-Friday, from 7:30-8pm. The local strip is a key element of KQED's current strategic plan and our commitment to increasing the amount of locally produced and locally relevant content we offer our audiences. The most important impact of our successful fundraising for Quest, however, is on the community: as a result of our efforts, in 2007 KQED will raise the visibility of local science and environment organizations, and activities throughout the Bay Area, providing Northern Californians with unprecedented access to Bay Area science, environment, and nature news and resources.

TITLE | Wisconsin WWII and Korean War Stories

GOALS | Our first goal was to honor, remember and preserve the stories of Wisconsin's veterans who served in World War II and Korea. Our second goal was to fund it — raise $450,000 — while continuing our partnership with the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) and working with a new partner, Wisconsin's Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA). Our third goal was to enlist community leaders, especially our major donor and board members, in developing and funding this project. Our fourth goal was to use this project to demonstrate to key constituents the power, reach and impact of WPT.

PROCESS | This project started with coordinated activities of our history production unit and the development staff of the partner organizations. Recognizing a common interest in finding veterans with stories and finding philanthropic people interested in helping share these stories, we started by asking major donors and board members to help us gather veterans for five "listening sessions" around the state. In these conversations, we identified interview subjects and were able to excite prospective funders about the opportunity of sharing these stories. In the cultivation process, several key donors participated in the listening sessions and all met with our producers who shared their enthusiasm for the project and early video of these compelling stories. We worked with our partners to develop beyond broadcast components that appealed to funders, including curriculum materials for schools, a companion web site and establishment of a permanent archive of the veteran interviews preserved at the WHS and the DVA's Veterans Museum. The power of the stories and the reach of the partners, along with the personal involvement of funders, helped us raised over $600,000 for this seven-hour series. We received lead gifts of $75,000 and of $70,000. We received a corporate gift of $60,000 and from two individuals who contributed $50,000 each. We completed our funding with several $25,000 and $10,000 contributions. In almost every case, these gifts represented the largest gifts we ever received from these funders. To demonstrate impact, we made our veterans' programs a focus of our member and major donor communications and organized a series of screenings honoring veterans throughout the state. These events were geared to key constituents, especially project funders and major donors, to have them see people see the program and hear from veterans about the importance of this project. We had a preview reception for veterans and funders at the governor's mansion, and another for veterans, funders and legislators at the home of the President of the University of Wisconsin. We organized an event at a living history site, a favorite cause of one of our lead funders. We also organized a reunion of the survivors of the USS Bunker Hill hit by kamikazes in 1945 to thank them for their service and introduce them to one of our funders (who served on a destroyer that came to their rescue). We mailed DVDs to all major donors, many of whom called asking for additional copies to share with friends and family. In addition, we produced an end-of-project report for funders sharing the impact of the project. We continue to use that report with funding proposals to demonstrate how an investment in WPT can serve the community through broadcast and non-broadcast components.

RESULTS | We sharpened our major gift project fundraising by engaging leadership volunteers and created an active partnership with producers in cultivating, soliciting and stewarding major gifts. We've demonstrated the value within WPT of working with partners and of engaging funders in the process. Recent major contributions from funders of our veterans' project to a concert series, and to our recently completed NEH Challenge to establish a $1,000,000 endowment for history productions have shown the power of stewardship to make major contributions a renewable resource. The experience we have gained and the success of the programs have led directly to the robust launch of a new history series, Wisconsin Hometown Stories. With this active participation of producers, management, the President of our Friends board and development staff — we exceeded our $100,000 fundraising goal for our first program, Janesville, by raising $115,000. Our second program in Green Bay has rallied extensive community support including participation of every area history group — the first time they've worked together on a project. It has also received a $50,000 lead gift and the commitment from that donor to raise the rest of our $200,000 goal. To date commitments exceed $150,000 from four funders — the first four funders we've asked. With strong interest from many others, it very likely we'll fully fund this project and exceed that $200,000 by enough to expand the project its original scope. In addition, this project has given us an example that we are now sharing with potential funders for a future Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories project to listen, honor, and thank Wisconsin's Vietnam veterans.

IMPACT | This series has been a powerful reminder to key constituents of the unique value of Wisconsin Public Television. The outpouring of enthusiasm and support was demonstrated by how it energized board members and volunteers, enlisted dozens of new major donors at screening events and the recent news that one veteran participant designated WPT in his will for over $75,000. His niece told us that his participation was one of the highlights of his life. Our veterans' project has been a model for PBS stations. We have shared materials with several stations, including KUED in Salt Lake City, which has repeated our project point by point. KUED used our graphics, our archival footage, our grant proposals, program titles and even our program narration.

Letter from former WW2 POW Sgt James E. Magruder — "I feel honored to have been chosen to take part. It is important that this terrible/tragic war never be forgotten. It is nothing like in the movies. There is nothing glamorous about war. In telling our stories I feel we have all finally started the healing process even though it is very hard for me to talk about my experience. It is important that the men and women who fought be remembered. That is why this documentary is so important to me and why once again I send my heartfelt thank you for giving me the privilege to take part in the telling these stories."

2005 PBS DevCon Award Winner: WGBY

Building on a strong history of local partnerships, WGBY once again blurred the lines between on-air pledge, local programming, outreach and community service with Focusing On The Range: A Community Photo Exhibit, a project that: secured our first $25,000 underwriter for a local production, saw 10 times as many photographs submitted as anticipated, generated a highly successful pledge program with over $18,000 in pledge revenues, connected thousands of people to their community and solidified WGBY's role as a leading community partner by strengthening relationships with the staff, boards & volunteers of a variety of area non-profits.

The phrase "slam dunk" might be cliché and overused, but when WGBY General Manager Rus Peotter first heard about a proposed photo exhibit being organized by area environmental and conservation groups to build awareness about one of the regions most dominant and ecologically important geologic features, he knew the project not only dovetailed perfectly with WGBY's newly revised Mission, Vision and Values statement, but that our involvement would lead to a slam dunk of a project and the ultimate "win-win" for everyone.

Prior to WGBY getting involved, the exhibit was a single event designed to engage photographers of all skill levels to tell the story of the Mt. Holyoke Range, a majestic and inspiring mountain range rising out of floor of the Connecticut River Valley.

But we knew this project could be expanded to improve the impact of everyone's efforts, so WGBY immediately teamed up with The Kestrel Land Trust, The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, The Department of Conservation and Recreation, The Connecticut Valley Summit, Friends of the Mt Holyoke Range and the Trustees of Reservations, the nation's first and largest land trust, to start to put the pieces together.

We then set out to secure a corporate sponsor and identified a local bank (a long-resistant underwriter) as the perfect candidate. To our amazement, the $25,000 sponsorship passed through the bank's board approval process with no resistance.

Once WGBY became involved, the scope of the project increased dramatically. The original goal was that through the distribution of one-color flyers, the photo exhibit would receive 50 submitted photos for display. Instead, WGBY created an aggressive 12-week multi-media campaign to make a robust call-for-entries and it paid off as the participation swelled to over 500 entries!

With sponsorship commitment in hand, WGBY was able to help provide thousands of dollars in prize money for photographs deemed "best in class", inspiring professionals and amateurs alike to showcase their very best work, and lifting the overall quality of the submissions.

WGBY went to work producing a new local documentary, Focusing On The Range. After spending a picture-perfect Autumn day shooting aerial footage from a helicopter, the production team took complete ownership of the project, realizing they were creating a deep-reaching local project on par with any of the national "Over" programs that had been so successful for the system.

Focusing On The Range premiered in March 2005 and was used to promote the upcoming photo exhibit, showcase the natural beauty of our region and connect like-minded people with our project partners. The special incorporated sweeping aerial footage along with photographs submitted for the exhibit as well as commentary designed to increase understanding of the social history and importance of "The Range." The pledge breaks were used to build environmental awareness about the region and to promote the good work of our environmental and conservation group partners. In another watershed moment, we used the breaks to offer joint station/conservation group memberships to those that requested them with all revenue going to WGBY. We received nearly 200 pledges from that program with pledge revenues exceeding $18,000. Better yet, we were flooded with comments from residents who were beaming with pride and a new appreciation for the place they call "home"... and for WGBY.

The photo exhibit was mounted in May 2005 at the Summit House, a former hotel and historic lookout at the top of the Holyoke Range. Initial predictions called for a steady, informal flow of visitors to view the exhibit. While the math is incomplete due to the exhibits continuing run through the end of August, visitation has exceeded expectations many times over. In fact, demand for the exhibit was so enthusiastic that organized groups began requesting private tours.

WGBY also created a companion website, hosting a large number of the submitted photographs, making it accessible to those whose physical or geographic limitations made it impossible for them to see the photographs in person.

In the end, WGBY helped bring together several environmental and conservation groups (some which had never worked together before), encouraged civic involvement among viewers, helped build environmental awareness in the region, earned WGBY a seat at the table for discussion of local community partnerships, created a successful pledge program and forged relationships with important community leaders that will pay dividends for years to come.

2005 PBS DevCon Award Winner: WTVP

The WTVP Visionaries

With the launch of the station's Visionaries levels for Klystron Society (individual major giving) and Corporate Council (obviously, business giving) in Fall of 2004, WTVP redefined annual major giving and attracted new sustained support at annual levels never previously achieved. The Visionaries is the name for donors who give $10,000 or more each year.

The launch of this category helped nearly triple income from annual donors who at the level of $1,000 or more each year and attracted seven donors at $10,000 or more, but also moved many other donors up to $5,000 or $2,500 levels. Previous total giving from $1,000 plus donors had approached $70,000 in 2003 from the major donor annual contributors. Visionaries helped raise $110,000 more in new annual giving and set the stage for a major campaign that is in progress now.

Stimulated by CPB's MGI effort, the WTVP Board of Trustees development committee signed off on the pursuit of a higher definition of major gifts, stressing $10,000 per year as the new high-end society level. A new category for individual and corporate giving was created with a goal to move annual donors into a category of giving at a much higher level. Co-chairs were recruited from the board.

The Visionaries launch is a story of multiple successes, including special event, major giving, cultivation, and campaign.

To inaugurate the new society, a black-tie dinner was held to honor the Visionaries and open only to those who increased support to $2,500 or more. Jim Lehrer was recruited as keynote speaker. The event was held a week before the presidential debate that he moderated which added to its prestige. ADM, based in Central Illinois but outside the station's viewing area, agreed to fly in the speaker and to become a Visionaries member itself. ADM chairman, Allen Andreas, agreed to come to and speak at the event. Red carpet was literally rolled out from the street to the station's front door. Trumpeters played from the balcony. A fake paparazzi was recruited to photograph major donors on the red carpet. A six-course dinner was based on the menu of Julia Child by a Chef who had trained with her. Most significantly, the testimonials of the co-chairs in support of public television and the remarks by President & CEO Chet Tomczyk stressed mission. The event was in many respects the launch pad for a longer term effort to recruit new major donors.

The Visionaries receive simple rotating spots on air.

One of the inaugural visionaries has now made a $350,000 five-year pledge to the station's Minds Matter campaign for major support. A co-chair of the Visionaries event has now pledged $70,000 during the next four years, more than quadrupling his pre-Visionaries launch level. One of the station's individual donors has now pledged $25,000 per year for the next 15 years. One medical group who became a Corporate Council Visionaries member is now helping launch a medical affinity group to encourage more doctors and medical institutions to support the station. And the stories continue.

Visionaries represented a new higher standard and higher aim for major donors. The launch of the $10,000 annual giving category has helped the station look at the $1,000 annual giving as more of a mid-level giving society that has the potential to draw many more annual members into its ranks. The $1,000 levels have not been abandoned, but rather they are now being marketing differently.

Still there is much room to grow in the area of major annual giving, but WTVP has celebrated the new levels as a new way of approaching major giving. We believe it is worthy of sharing with the system.

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KCTS: Mid-Level Donor Event Generates $10,000 Gift

KCTS established a mid-level giving program to bridge our efforts between membership and major giving. Our new program, the KCTS Patron Circle, recognizes those individuals who give $500 to $1,000 annually.

On August 9, 2005, we joined forces with PBS celebrity, Chef Nick Stellino, host of Nick Stellino's Family Kitchen, to honor our Patron Circle donors with a celebration dinner and cooking demonstration. This event was primarily a donor thank you event, but we did offer the opportunity for our donors to give an additional gift through a very "soft" ask.

In this case, we attached a recipe card to their take-away gift which was an etched olive oil bottle. The recipe card read:

The card also included a recipe for an herb-flavored oil for their bottle. Also attached was a donation card with a return envelope.

We are happy to report that a gift of $10,000 was received from a couple who attended the dinner event, thus moving them from our Patron Circle (mid-level) to our Leadership Circle (major gifts). Prior to this gift, these donors had given at the $500 annually, but had not been on our prospect radar for contributing more.

Just another example of what a simple "thank you" can achieve.

Submitted by:
Helen Hickman
Donor Relations Manager
KCTS Television

Nashville Public Television Receives Transformational Gift of $1,000,00

Working with our MGI consultant, Nashville Public Television (NPT) is developing a case for support to be used in a feasibility study for a campaign. The case is based on a new strategic plan that the NPT board was deeply involved in developing and which they approved in May 2005. A key member of the strategic planning committee was a former board chair who led NPT's transformation from a government entity to an independent non-profit corporation beginning in 1997. As the lay leader most identified with NPT, his personal gift to the campaign will be critical to our eventual success. He has now pledged $1 million to the campaign, a gift which we will announce as we begin to involve all our board members and others closest to the institution. This key gift will help us raise the sights of other potential donors. It is truly a transformational investment in Nashville Public Television, the first gift of this magnitude we have ever received.

Submitted by:
Steve Bass
President and CEO
Nashville Public Television