Ambassador Recruitment

 

The strength of My Source comes from harnessing the voices and stories of real public broadcasting viewers and listeners – never scripted actors.

 

You may find some of the following tips useful as you cultivate My Source ambassadors – vocal advocates for public broadcasting – for your station. 

 

What to Look For

How to Recruit

Additional Tips on Recruitment

Next Steps

 

 

What To Look For

 

• People who love public broadcasting. It is important to start with what truly matters: authentic voices speaking from the heart about why they value public broadcasting. Finding ambassadors with a strong connection to your station is the best way to create compelling My Source testimonials

 

• Gender, age and ethnic diversity. Viewers and listeners need to identify personally with the ambassadors featured in the testimonials. Recruiting diverse audience members will ensure you are speaking to your broadest community.  

 

• Personalities. Quirky, passionate stories from unique personalities will produce the most compelling testimonials. Check out an example here.

 

• Find the unexpected ambassador. Which local figures would listeners and viewers be surprised to discover are active members of their public broadcasting community? The town’s mayor? The local NBA star? If they are active listeners or viewers, ask them to record a testimonial. WBGO recruited former NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabar to record a My Source testimonial about his love for jazz.

 

Resource: Guidance from Dave Isay: How to find great characters.

 

 

             

 

How To Recruit

 

On-Air Promos

A quick and easy way to solicit testimonials from potential ambassadors is through on-air promos. You can direct viewers or listeners to use the My Source testimonial tool to submit their stories, or you can encourage them to contact you directly. 

 

Several My Source test stations have been successful using on-air solicitations to direct listeners to submit written My Source testimonials online.

 

Sample:       WAMU (Washington, DC)

Resource:    Jack Galmiche, President & CEO, KETC/Channel 9 (St. Louis, MO)

 

 

 

At Station or Community Events

 

• Whenever you host or sponsor a community event, be sure to take video and audio recording equipment with you and ask event attendees to create on-the-fly My Source testimonials.

 

• Set up a recording booth at all of your community events and encourage folks to stop in and talk about why your station is their source.

 

• Consider sending a recording team out to major community events, such as state fairs or community festivals, to ask attendees to record testimonials.

 

Sample:      WGBH (Boston, MA)

Sample:      Independent Television Service (ITVS)

 

 

Mailings to Members

 

Whether it’s a mailing specifically to solicit My Source testimonials or part of a larger communication to members, use both electronic and print communications tools to ask members to become ambassadors for your station.   

 

Sample:       WAMU Newsletter

Sample:       WPLN Newsletter

 

 

Identify and Ask Community Leaders and Members

 

• Engage station members.

 

• Ask your board members to record testimonials. 

 

• Recruit community leaders’ and members’ friends and colleagues to support the station by recording a testimonial. WEIU of Eastern Illinois University recruited the university's president  to serve as an ambassador. WEIU created on-air spots for television and radio,
  as well as print ads, from his testimonial. KWMU of St. Louis, Missouri, collected several testimonials from non-profit and corporate leaders within their community including the president and CEO of Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation, the director of the Contemporary Museum of Art, St. Louis, and the president of S.M. Wilson & Company. Also, be sure to check out the testimonial solicitation campaign that  WUWM of Milwaukee, WI developed to implement its ambassador solicitation effort.

 

• Review your membership list and personally invite members with whom you wish to build a deeper relationship. WNYC in New York successfully recruited Julia Stiles and Lili Taylor to record testimonials. KNME in New Mexico enlisted Governor Bill Richardson to record an on-air My Source spot.

 

 

 

 

Resource:    Template letter to recruit ambassadors

 

 

Online Solicitations

 

We have developed an easy-to-use My Source testimonial tool to capture the stories of your viewers and listeners. You can either use this tool on your Web site or develop your own online recruitment tool based on your station’s specific needs.

 

Sample:       WUNC Online Solicitation

Sample:       WFPK, WFPL and WUOL (Louisville, KY) Online
                  Solicitation

 

 

Additional Tips on Recruitment

 

• In recruiting local celebrities, make sure they can speak with authenticity. Having your town’s NFL quarterback provide a testimonial may grab attention initially, but if he isn’t really a public broadcasting listener or viewer, his testimonial will ring hollow. Check out this list of national ambassadors who recorded My Source testimonials.

 

• Use your station celebrities and members wisely. WAMU's Diane Rehm encourages listeners on-air to e-mail mysource@wamu.org to submit testimonials. WUNC e-mailed members directly, asking them to submit testimonials. Having your station celebrities ask listeners and viewers for testimonials is a great way to get them involved in My Source and to demonstrate your station’s commitment to hearing from its audience.  

 

• Think beyond your concept of current viewers/listeners. My Source is committed to pushing beyond the stereotypes of who uses public broadcasting to tell the bigger story about how it is essential to Americans’ daily lives. When soliciting testimonials, think beyond your audience data to find new viewers and listeners.  If you want the advice of fellow My Source stations, be sure to check out the tip sheet developed based on their insights and experiences during the testimonial solicitation process.

 

 

Next Steps

 

Once you have enlisted your station’s My Source ambassadors and they are ready to speak out, the My Source style guide and the materials and resources sections can provide ideas, suggestions and examples. Read our guidelines to help you create compelling My Source testimonials