I’ve worked with public media organizations for nearly two decades, and one thing has stayed consistent: station teams are resourceful. They know how to make a lot happen with limited staff, limited budgets, and high expectations.
What has changed is the environment around them.
Public media fundraising is operating under a different set of realities than it was even a few years ago. Funding pressure, shifting donor expectations, staffing challenges, underdeveloped digital programs, and growing demands on already stretched teams are creating challenges many stations haven’t had to navigate before. These aren’t isolated issues. They’re connected, and together they’re changing what successful fundraising requires. Public media is experiencing a structural shift, and that shift demands more than strong campaign execution. It requires a clear understanding of what is working, what isn’t, and what problems stations need to solve.
What concerns me most isn’t the change itself. It’s that too many stations are still approaching this moment the same way they’ve approached challenges in the past.
The conversations I wish more organizations were having aren’t about the next appeal package, campaign calendar, or budget reduction. They’re questions about sustainability, growth, and long-term donor relationships. How do we keep the donors who came through the door this year? What happens when giving begins to normalize? How do we grow without relying on a single channel or moment of urgency to drive results?
Those are the questions that matter right now.
The Questions Stations Should Be Asking
A few years ago, many fundraising conversations started with the campaign. Today, they should start with whether the fundraising program is built for the environment we’re operating in now.
Public media stations are facing a combination of challenges that are reshaping how fundraising must operate. Funding pressure has changed the financial reality for many organizations. Donor expectations continue to evolve. Staffing challenges are stretching already busy teams. At the same time, many stations are still operating with fundraising programs designed for a very different environment.
One of the biggest risks I see right now is assuming that today’s donor response will continue indefinitely. Public media has experienced extraordinary donor support over the past year, but there are already signs that growth is slowing. We’ve seen similar patterns before.
Food banks experienced a comparable surge during COVID. Many organizations saw unprecedented generosity, only to watch giving gradually return to more normal levels. The lesson isn’t that public media should be pessimistic. It’s that stations should be prepared. Organizations should already be thinking about what happens when donor response settles and, more importantly, what they’re doing now to retain the donors they’ve gained.
Many stations are only beginning to have that conversation as those donors enter renewal cycles. In my view, that discussion should have started the moment those donors made their first gift. The opportunity is still there, but waiting isn’t a strategy.
At the same time, many organizations are still working with a case for giving that lacks urgency and consequence. Public media has historically been more comfortable talking about programming than explaining what is at stake if donor support doesn’t keep pace with funding realities. Donors need to understand not only why public media matters, but why their support matters right now.
Adding to the challenge is the loss of institutional knowledge across the sector. Staffing reductions have affected many organizations, and experienced professionals are retiring at a time when stations need expertise more than ever.
The hard part isn’t that stations don’t know how to fundraise. They do. The hard part is that the environment around them has changed faster than many fundraising programs were built to respond.
Maintaining Isn’t a Growth Strategy
One of the most common conversations I’m having right now starts with budget pressure.
How can we spend less?
How can we keep our budget flat?
How can we maintain what we did last year?
I understand why stations are asking those questions. If resources are tight, it’s natural to look for ways to control spending.
The problem is that many stations are trying to solve today’s challenges with yesterday’s assumptions.
Many organizations experienced significant donor growth over the past year, yet entered budget season expecting to maintain the same level of fundraising investment. If you’re communicating with significantly more donors than you were a year ago, holding everything flat isn’t a growth strategy. More importantly, donor expectations have changed. Doing the same things you’ve always done isn’t likely to produce different results.
This is where diagnosis matters.
One of AGP’s core beliefs is that we start with the problem, not the product. We use client goals and donor data to shape strategy rather than beginning with a predetermined solution.
Too often, organizations become focused on tactics before identifying the problem they’re trying to solve. A station hears another organization had success with a campaign or channel and immediately wants to replicate it.
My question is always the same: What problem were they trying to solve?
Until you understand that answer, you don’t know whether you have the same challenge.
The same issue shows up when we talk about urgency. Many stations are uncomfortable discussing consequences because they don’t want to sound the alarm. But donors still need an answer to a simple question: Why should I give now?
If there is no consequence to waiting, why wouldn’t a donor wait for the next pledge drive, the next appeal, or the next email?
Public media doesn’t need to create fear. But it does need to explain, honestly and clearly, what is at stake now that funding has disappeared. If donors don’t help close the gap, there will be consequences. Programs will change. Capacity will change. Services will change. Those are realities donors deserve to understand.
Sometimes the most valuable thing a partner can do is not hand you the next tactic. Sometimes it’s helping you understand whether you’re solving the right problem in the first place.
Good Partnership Helps Stations See the Whole Picture
Fundraising challenges rarely exist in isolation.
A retention problem might be a stewardship problem. A messaging problem might really be a segmentation problem. A digital challenge might have more to do with priorities and staffing than technology.
That’s why solving problems requires stepping back and looking at the whole picture.
For me, a good partnership starts with asking better questions.
If a client comes to us with an idea they heard at a conference, a good partner doesn’t automatically say yes. A good partner asks why.
What are you trying to accomplish?
What problem are you trying to solve?
Is this the best way to get there?
Sometimes clients need help evaluating risk. Sometimes they need help building support internally for a new direction. Sometimes they simply need another perspective. In every case, the value comes from understanding the challenge before jumping to a solution.
A good partner is not just looking at whether the appeal is mailed on time. They are looking at what the donor is experiencing, what the data is telling us, where the program is gaining traction, and where the station may need to think differently.
Stations Need to Keep What Works and Fix What Doesn’t
None of this means public media should abandon what has worked.
The goal is to be honest about what’s still working, what’s no longer enough, and where stations need to adjust.
Growth increasingly depends on integrating direct mail, email, and digital channels rather than relying on a single tactic. Digital acquisition remains one of the sector’s biggest underdeveloped opportunities, while segmentation, stewardship, and messaging all need to evolve alongside changing donor expectations.
This is also where public media must continue moving toward mission-based fundraising. For years, many organizations relied heavily on transactional giving and on-air pledge activity. Today’s environment requires stronger donor retention, deeper donor relationships, and a clearer connection between mission and support.
It also requires organizations to become more conversant in their own data. Stations don’t need to chase every new fundraising idea they hear at a conference. They need a deeper understanding of what their own data is telling them and what problems they’re trying to solve.
The goal is not to start over. It is to understand what is still working, what is no longer enough, and where thoughtful change can create momentum before the pressure becomes even greater.
What Strong Fundraising Leadership Looks Like Right Now
The strongest organizations I’ve worked with aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the largest staff.
They’re willing to challenge assumptions about what has always worked. They’re willing to look honestly at their data. They’re willing to rethink old fundraising habits and adapt to changing donor expectations.
Most importantly, they start with the problem rather than jumping immediately to a solution.
Public media leaders don’t need to become experts in every fundraising tactic. They do need to become more confident identifying what challenge they’re trying to solve and why.
One piece of advice I find myself repeating often is this: Stop thinking like a public media station and start thinking like a mission-driven nonprofit.
The organizations that make that shift are often the ones best positioned to adapt, grow, and build stronger donor relationships over time.
Looking Ahead
Public media fundraising is not standing still.
The stations that are best prepared for what comes next will be the ones willing to look beyond the next campaign and ask thoughtful questions about who their donors are, why they give, where the program has capacity, and what will create lasting value.
That work starts with asking better questions.
Not with more tactics.
With better problem-solving.
Let’s Start the Conversation
If any of the challenges in this article sound familiar, you’re not alone.
Across the public media sector, station leaders are wrestling with many of the same questions: how to retain new donors, strengthen the case for giving, adapt to changing donor expectations, and build a fundraising program that can grow in a more uncertain environment.
After nearly two decades working alongside public media organizations, I’ve learned there are rarely simple answers. But asking the right questions is often the best place to start.
I’d welcome the opportunity to talk through the fundraising challenges your station is facing and the opportunities you see ahead. Connect with me on LinkedIn or reach out to AGP to continue the conversation.
