Participative marketing for Local Radio

Crowdfunding and community media

As I have raised before, crowdfunding is a worthwhile strategy to consider for community media to retain independence and pursue the work it wants to do.

Crowdfunding, is defined in Wikipedia as: the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.

There are several crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Gofundme, and they work well, but none can guarantee you a desired result. But unlike with most donors, you can run a campaign at any time, so get the money you need when you need it. And yes, they have been used to fund radio programmes in some parts of the world.

This idea resonates well with community media as ideally they should be collecting 25% or more of their funding (we say 50%) from the community they serve via small donations, memberships and sales. Indeed, their core operational and key staff funding should be from the community (listeners and fans).

Of course this is easier said than done. Some radios here don't believe it is possible, though most have never really tried to do it or executed well. Most don't know how. A few only see public funding in terms of the international community and expat Ugandans. And of course, the Internet (and say e-payments, even credit card) is not a household item in Uganda, with usage only around 15% of the population. But hey, mobile money is very big!

An American community radio station has achieved some success using crowdfunding, refer the story below. It attributes this largely to the culture of the resident (urban) community, in more strongly supporting local business.

Credibility also counts, how much respect does the community and listeners have for your station?

http://thelantern.com/…/power-to-the-people-local-radio-st…/

This initiative won't necessarily work as well in Uganda (or other places).

However it is not so much the method or technology that matters, but more so, the concepts, and how they relate to a community radio in Uganda.

A few things to think about:

• From the perspective of the giver (or most of them), crowdfunding is an investment not a donation.
• Success with this method means thinking that crowdfunding is about building a cohesive funding community, not simply collecting a few gifts (or sugar and bread from a politician). Are you willing to do so? Are you willing to develop and maintain a real relationship with people?
• Being serious about achieving milestones before collecting the money (or some of it). Too many radios here see the money, not the task. Many don't do anywhere near enough to justify the money they get (this applies to NGOs too). Are you willing to change your mindset, how you think and work?
• Think about how you want to make something specific possible in an innovative way. Givers want to invest in new ways, not support general operations. Do you have a radio based program idea to better tackle the growing problem of malaria in Apac District?
• What outputs and outcomes will the giver see, hear and feel? One radio in Arua gives back to the community in terms of sugar and bread. This is misguided, as the benefit provided by a community radio is not in terms of such rewards but programmes that enrich the lives of listeners, affect and impact them in tangible ways, and that are better than the community can reasonably expect. Do you have or plan any such programmes?

Hope these notes have helped you a little. I will cover this topic more in the next edition of Participative Marketing for Local Radio e-news, stay tuned.

All questions and comments welcome.