National Friends of Public Broadcasting

PBS Annual Meeting Professional Development Session

Beyond the Airwaves: Volunteers in Public Media

Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina Pacific Ballroom 14
8:30 a.m. 2 p.m.

Volunteers Today
STATION # VOLUNTEERS VOLUNTEER ROLES
WUCF TV 145 Advocacy, community
WHA 2,174 engagement, fundraising, tour
KCPT 50 (100 Radio) guides, phone banking, events
KLRN 200-250 (Kids events / major donor
WCET 600 events), Antiques Roadshow,
KPBS 130 clerical, fund local productions,
NFT ? Advisory Board, auction, pledge
PBS SoCal 900 talent, Go-getters (food
WCVE 200 donations, financial donations),
KAMU 25 tapings, landscaping, costume
wearers, planned giving, thank-
WSRE 30
a-thon, radio reading service,
WYES 40
mailing / envelope stuffing,
Vegas PBS 125 (Active) / 275 (Annual)
producers club (Fundraising),
RMPBS 600
drivers ed (on-air show),
KHET 25 active / 100 on roster childrens news, membership,
Friends of 13 18 on-air extras, radio, grant follow-
ups, Veterans engagement,
gala needs, community
partnerships, shipping
/receiving, newsletter,
production, written content,
silent auction, live pledge, book
distribution (PBS Kids), board
meetings, imagination station,
answering phones in office, wine
/ food tasting, front desk,
shipping / managing DVDs,
leadership, pledge coordinators,
computer lab assistants, file
organization, audit preparation,
answer viewer questions,
marketing and social media.

Volunteer opportunities and aspirations

Developing lead volunteers
Volunteer vetting (specific to on-air messaging and shotgun approach)
Younger generation of volunteers
Increase station presence in community through engagement opportunities using volunteers
PBS Nerd task force
Low-income community presence
Innovation in TV and programming (produce new shows)
Office management (digitize materials)
Multi-generational storytellers and ambassadors
Tap into diverse audience
 Millennial Board (with onboarding)
Next generation of fundraisers / donors

Barriers to volunteerism

General Manager Background checks and fees

--Some stations may require donation to cover
fees in order to volunteer.
Structured volunteer department / Need for
volunteer staff / human bandwidth.
Volunteer Appropriate and adequate volunteer training.
Advanced planning and coordination.
Volunteer Manager Departmental silos.
Lack of appropriate training.
Tracking volunteer commitments.
Lack of human bandwidth.
Lack of leadership to volunteers.
Station Staff Risk management (background checks, tasks
volunteers should vs. shouldnt do).
Training for management of volunteers.
Community Member (Board / General Public) Awareness of volunteers / volunteer department.
Volunteer capacity (face of organization /
interaction with volunteers).

Rolling the Dice Racing to the future of volunteerism

ROUND 1
Events Community Engagement
SCENARIO: Your station SCENARIO: Your station is
received a grant to produce a given an opportunity to host a
local documentary but the table at a local community event
time-line is fast, and you have for entrepreneurs (or any new
one Producer on staff who will audience). This is a great
need some help. How can opportunity for the station to
volunteers step in to support this engage with a new audience.
local program? How can you utilize volunteers
to ensure this opportunity is a
success?
4 ideas
Venue walk thru Volunteer shirt promo
Planning coordination of event Instagram #hashtag
Social media at event Photobooth
Check-in On-site promo
Community engagement

ROUND 2
Community Engagement
SCENARIO: The Education Department is
hosting an event for parents of ESL students at a
local elementary school with limited monetary
resources. The Department needs help to
entertain the students, while the parents attend
Board
SCENARIO: The Volunteer Board is not engaged
in your organization. You have a major event
coming up (a Farm to Table Dinner, Gourmet
dinner, Picnic in the Park event, etc.) and need to
increase ticket sales. How can you improve the
Volunteer Boards engagement?
the event. How can volunteers engage with the
students in exciting and educational ways?
5 ideas
PBS Kids iPad Event chairs
Native speakers / interpreters Use volunteers to gather auction items
Educational activities Sale sponsorships
Using connections in community
Promotion (networking)

ROUND 3
Membership Board
SCENARIO: List ways volunteers can directly SCENARIO: You have openings for three new
impact a membership department. Board Members. How can you identify potential
Board Members who could assist in the stations
fundraising efforts?
5 ideas
Pledge promotion in phoning Find people with a lot of connections and ability to
give
Helping with mailers Look to current volunteer base
Thank-A-Thon Look to long-time supporters
Station tours Event sponsors
Personal social media accounts Hold a convener
Data entry (CRM)
Bringing in other volunteers (word-of-mouth)

ROUND 4
Membership Fundraising
SCENARIO: Due to budget constraints, your SCENARIO: Sponsorships for programming has
membership department is overwhelmed with the dropped especially some of your cooking or
call volume during the March pledge campaign. In How To programs. How can your Board
what ways can volunteers fill a staffing need and Members or volunteers provide leads / sales for
help the station? potential program underwriters?
4 ideas 5 ideas
Do phone bank with additional shifts Personal contacts in business community
Coordinate a vol. schedule Host event with on-air host
Coordinate donated food for vol. Build cold call list
Personal assistants for producers Maj. Donor Board members on-air asks
Lead volunteers Vol. and Board member brainstorming session
Be on-air talent
Process premiums
Confirm and verify pledges

ROUND 5
Production
SCENARIO: Your station received a grant to SCENARIO: Your station is launching a new
produce a local documentary but the time-line is social media campaign, complete with digital
fast, and you have one Producer on staff who will shorts, and a hashtag, and you want to make the
need some help. How can volunteers step in to biggest impact possible when it launches. What
support this local program? are some ways volunteers can help?
1 idea 4 ideas
TV production students involved with closed Use social media / social media calendar
captioning, extras, filming, editing, post- On-air testimonials
On-site pitches / t-shirt promos
 production, original music, background checks YouTube (with liability waivers)
(work-for-hire agreement)

ROUND 6 Final Round

Membership
SCENARIO: Your COO is impressed with live
pledge volunteer lead who assist with pledge
orientation, answers questions, and serves as a
valuable extension of the staff. The COO asked
the membership department to develop additional
leadership roles for this volunteers. Create new
leadership opportunities for this volunteer.
4 ideas
Organize a thank-a-thon
Lead on-site trainer (create training materials)
Ambassador / advocate in community
Assist with event planning
Production
SCENARIO: Your station has an opportunity to
pitch a new local program to a foundation. What
are some ways volunteers can help you prepare
for the pitch?
3 ideas
Connections to foundations trustees
Research into organization
Distribute 5% of income or more of foundation
income (charitable status)

Take-Home Opportunities

Thank-A-Thons
When you travel, visit another PBS station to see what they are doing.
Other stations need to hear what you are doing at your station so share your successes.