Public
Radio Advertising;Does It Bring in Visitors?
The question comes up often on UUA e-mail lists: “We’re
thinking about advertising on our National Public Radio station. People
who listen to NPR are a lot like the
people in our congregation. Is that a good idea?” It depends on
your goal, say those who have tried it. Many churches have underwritten
public radio programs. The UUA did it for three years in the ‘90s.
A cluster of Atlanta-area congregations did it in 2002. What they found
is that NPR underwriting spots drew in few visitors. The ads ran for
12 weeks, and among the nine congregations there were nine visitors
who said they came because of the ads.
When the UUA advertised nationally on NPR in 1995,
‘96, and ‘97, response was better. John
Hurley, the UUA’s director of information
and public witness, says there were 450 calls to an 800 number during
the 1995 period, 750 the next year, and 500 the last year. All who called
were sent information. Follow-ups found that only a few had actually
joined congregations, however.
Those who have tried NPR underwriting note the following:
Stations are independent, with different rules. Some refuse religious
advertising. Getting the language you want can be difficult.
Costs can vary by station.
If you do advertise, refer listeners to a Web site, not a phone number,
for further information. And keep the Web address simple.
Consider inviting members of your congregation and
nearby congregations to pool the funds they would normally contribute
individually to NPR. Use that money for underwriting featuring the congregation.
The Greenville, S.C.,
UU Fellowship (375 members), and the UU
Church of Spartanburg, S.C. (125), collected $1,500, which paid
for three 20-second spots that ran 11 times weekly for eight weeks on
four stations.
If members pool their funds they may not be considered individual members
of the station. One fellowship reported their local station did agree
to make pool donors members.
The UU Fellowship,
Wilmington, N.C. (190), pools members’ funds and buys day sponsorships
on its local station. For $150, a spot airs three to four times. First
Unitarian Church, Louisville, Ky., ran spots on its station in 2002
but couldn’t detect any increase in visitors, says Jasmine Walston,
chair of public and denomination relations. A ten-second spot cost $60.
First UU Church, San Diego,
was preparing to spend $30,000 in a year-long NPR campaign focusing
on the Seven Principles, but the local station would only permit a statement
that “First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego supports
KPBS,” plus the Web address. And since there was no strong evidence
that many people were attracted to congregations by NPR spots, the campaign
was dropped, says Lawrence Kruming, leader of outreach efforts.
Bottom line: Public radio spots don’t seem to
draw many people to church immediately, says Hurley. But there are other
reasons to do it. “Any advertising raises awareness of your congregation,
and over time that can be beneficial.” Also, hearing ads raises
the morale of existing UUs. “The typical response that we heard,”
says Hurley, “was that it’s just so great to hear Unitarian
Universalism being advertised.”
RESOURCES
A detailed report of the NPR underwriting test done by the Atlanta-area
congregations is at www.gauu.org/report.
Note: Atlanta test organizers acknowledge their conclusions were weakened
by the inability of some congregations to track visitors adequately
or produce prior-year visitor numbers for comparison. There is still
room for a comprehensive test of NPR ads.
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