More than the cost of a tote bag: investigating listener attrition in response to donation solicitations on NPR
Start Date
April 2024
Location
2nd floor - Library
Abstract
Public radio stations face challenges in soliciting donations without causing adverse effects such as listener attrition. This paper investigates the impact of soliciting donations on listener behavior using a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) model. We analyze listenership during fundraising and non-fundraising periods, observing changes to listener counts before and after on-air fundraising events, and comparing the results to those of traditional advertising. We find that soliciting donations contributes to an average decline in listenership of between 4% and 15% immediately following the fundraising event compared to 0% to 3% declines observed for traditional advertising. Our findings underline the importance of implementing an informed fundraising strategy, especially when in the presence of opportunity costs that are conditional on listenership, such as advertising.
More than the cost of a tote bag: investigating listener attrition in response to donation solicitations on NPR
2nd floor - Library
Public radio stations face challenges in soliciting donations without causing adverse effects such as listener attrition. This paper investigates the impact of soliciting donations on listener behavior using a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) model. We analyze listenership during fundraising and non-fundraising periods, observing changes to listener counts before and after on-air fundraising events, and comparing the results to those of traditional advertising. We find that soliciting donations contributes to an average decline in listenership of between 4% and 15% immediately following the fundraising event compared to 0% to 3% declines observed for traditional advertising. Our findings underline the importance of implementing an informed fundraising strategy, especially when in the presence of opportunity costs that are conditional on listenership, such as advertising.
