Travel with Rick Steves Additional Radio Fundraiser Options

Travel with Rick Steves provides stations with a new set of fundraising modules and pitches from Rick each spring, with timed rundowns to help you plan your local pitch breaks. Rick's expertise as a public broadcasting fundraiser, and the goodwill he has with so many of your listeners, make these fundraiser specials a natural for raising support.

But there are also several additional items we have available for you to use as fundraiser elements from Rick.

1) Air Travel with Rick Steves Funder 2026-1. There are four fundraiser modules in total that we released in March 2026.

If you want to go beyond one hour's fundraising, you can air part or all of the 2025-1 fundraiser that we released in March 2025. Look at the second rundown option that's included with those files, for extra material that we provided.

2) Previous Fundraisers. We also make many of Rick's previous fundraisers available to air as well. We have reviewed them to eliminate those with dated references to the Covid-19 pandemic. You'll find links to the audio files and rundown options for each one at the end of the Overview section of the Funder 2026-1 description.

There are ten additional fundraisers you can select from, which were first released from 2025 back to 2016.

3) Shorten this week's show. If you'd like to run the current week's show, executive producer Tim Tattan can provide you with cutaway cue points between Rick's "resets" in each segment. Then you can edit the segments shorter, without having to fade out midsentence while live on the air.

Just e-mail [email protected] a week or so in advance to let him know which show you'll want to shorten. Then download the full hour version of the show from our website, and edit out portions of each segment, based on the cue times he'll send you. (We used to do this for WILL in Urbana, Ill., when they needed to fundraise several times a year.)

4) Schedule Rick for a funder appearance on your station. Many stations have seen great results having Rick as a remote guest on a fundraising episode of their local talk show, or on a special fundraiser with a local host. (WGBH Boston, WVXU Cincinnati, and WOSU Columbus are regulars with this, and are known to get a second wave of support by repeating these appearances within the week.)

To request Rick for a special fundraising appearance with your station, please let us know when you'd like him to record a special interview or segment for your station, or whether you'd like a live remote with Rick. We'll get you in touch with the right people to get on his calendar.

5) Custom funder pitch. We can have Rick record a special fundraising pitch or two for your station. He can mention your phone number, website, and any particular branding statements you like to use.

Send a suggested script and your deadline to [email protected]. We'll get them recorded and edited for you the next time Rick is in the radio studio.

6) Funder Spots. Rick has also recorded a series of fundraising spots, ranging in length from 22 seconds to 1:04, with several timed for 30 seconds, with and without music beds.

You can use these in your Travel with Rick Steves fundraiser hour, and elsewhere during your on-air campaign.