Travel with Rick Steves Fundraiser Modules 2021-2
Funder #2021-2
Released September 15, 2021
- Overview
- Fundraiser Spots
- Fundraising Premium Packages
- Formatting Rundowns for Airing the Segments
- Download Segments
Overview
Let one of the top fundraisers in public broadcasting, put his expertise to work in raising support for your radio station.
In the latest set of Travel with Rick Steves fundraiser modules, Rick does most of the heavy lifting for you, in making a strong case for listeners to support your station. This fundraiser edition of Travel with Rick Steves includes a set of "Best of" interviews from the program, as well as excerpts of a recent interview of Rick that has not been broadcast. It is designed to be appropriate to air during the pandemic, or, hopefully, as the pandemic wanes.
Rick closes each segment by pitching the value of public radio, and the need for your listeners to show their support. Rick also emphasizes the value of the public radio "news imperative" with listeners, and refers often to the quality of news and information programming on public radio throughout this fundraiser.
If your station offers the Rick Steves premium package for your contributors, you can let Rick pitch them for you by inserting the separate set of premium-specific pitches during your local pitch breaks. As some affiliates have demonstrated, you can even get great results using the Rick Steves premium package for a Rick Steves-themed premium hour in your news magazine programming, too.
Rick does not pitch the fundraising premium packages in the fundraiser modules; just in the separate clips that you can include in your local pitch breaks.
This latest fundraiser contains more than enough material to fill the usual one hour timeslot for Travel with Rick Steves. The rundown options we provide will help you to format it to time out correctly while you are live on the air.
The optional segment E is a feature piece, with Rick narrating portions of a chapter from his recent book "For the Love of Europe." That book is included in the current premium package. The audio feature includes natural sound from Naples and lively music to make it an engaging, upbeat piece for your fundraiser. It first aired in the middle of program #620 in November 2020.
To use the optional segment E within a one-hour time frame, and allow yourself longer local pitch breaks, you will need to drop one other segment from this fundraiser package. We recommend dropping segment A, since the billboard and promo promote material in segments B, C, and D.
Or you can retain Rick's interview in segment A, skip over segment B, C, or D, and just not use the billboard or promo for this fundraiser, to avoid promoting a topic you've deleted.
We provide you an option to include segment E and remove segment A in the Option 2 rundown for this fundraiser.
These latest fundraising modules can also be combined with material from previously-released fundraisers to create a two-hour fundraiser special, or to run over consecutive weekends.
The suggested rundowns help you to pace your local pitch breaks so that everything times out to one hour. You can also shorten or eliminate the hourly newscast to add to your local pitching time.
We do recommend that you try to include the Billboard at the open of a Travel with Rick Steves fundraiser. It sets the same tone for the show as it would during non-fundraising weeks, to make listeners eager to hear the material coming up, and less likely to tune away "because it's a fundraiser."
There is also a promo for the fundraiser, to help you promote the content of program, as usual, during your regular programming.
Each segment ends with a generic public radio fundraising pitch from Rick. Rick opens the B, C, D, and E segments with a brief re-statement of the need to support public radio. It creates an appropriate transition from your local pitching into the content of the segment.
If you'd also like more time to fundraise during one of the regular weekly Travel with Rick Steves programs, we can let you know your options for editing the segments shorter, to provide clean cutaways within each segment. Contact executive producer Tim Tattan in advance of your airdate to find out the cue points you can use to shorten each segment of one of the weekly programs.
If your station is offering the Rick Steves premium package, you should include one of Rick's premium pitches during your local pitch breaks to let Rick promote the content of those packages. The current premium package features Rick's two latest books, and are ideal for "travel dreaming".
- Fundraiser 2021-2 modules (released September 15, 2021)
- Fundraiser 2020-1 modules (released May 7, 2020)
- Fundraiser 2019-1 modules (released March 2019)
- Fundraiser 2018-2 modules (released August 2018)
- Fundraiser 2017-2 modules (released September 2017)
- Fundraiser 2016-1 modules (released March 2016)
Rick Steves Public Radio Fundraiser Spots
Rick Steves also provides fundraiser spots designed to enhance your local fund drives, with a few salient thoughts from Rick to encourage your listeners to contribute. They each vary in length from :22 to 1:04, and can be used at any time and in any program. You can include them in your longer local pitch breaks too.
Rick Steves Fundraiser Premium Packages
The Travel with Rick Steves premium packages feature Rick's popular travel books and DVDs of his TV shows and specials. They are offered at an attractive wholesale price to stations, with no minimum order required. You simply add the recorded premium pitches from Rick to your local pitch breaks to get Rick to promote them for you.
These Rick Steves premiums are otherwise not mentioned in the fundraising modules, for stations that wish to fundraise using other thank you gifts.
Note that the Rick Steves-themed fundraiser premiums have proven to be significant money-raisers for public radio and television. We encourage each Travel with Rick Steves affiliate to offer the Rick Steves premium package. There is no minimum required order on your part — just order what you need when it's time to fulfill your pledges. Station wholesale costs are kept low to help you optimize your station's fundraising potential.
Let your station's development department know about this link, so that they can see how the latest Travel with Rick Steves premium packages can raise money for your station.
Rick is offering thank you gifts at three support levels: $60, $120 or $240. He has voiced two versions of his premium pitch. Each pitch is available as voice-only, or mixed with music to enhance the tone. Rick emphasizes the value of $10 or $20 monthly sustainer contributions in these premium pitches.
Some Travel with Rick Steves affiliates have also offered the Rick Steves premium package as a special Rick Steves-themed incentive during their local talk shows, and even during Morning Edition, with remarkably strong results. Let us know how it works for you.
Airing the 2021-2 Travel with Rick Steves Fundraiser
The following rundown helps you to program the Travel with Rick Steves fundraiser modules, released September 15, 2021. We suggest start times for each segment, and lengths for your local pitch breaks, in order to time out correctly to one full hour. The pitch breaks are long enough for you to include Rick's premium pitches, if you are offering the Rick Steves premium package.
Note again that we have provided you with an optional segment E to help promote the content in Rick's book "For the Love of Europe," which is one of the premiums available to your contributors. You can use it to extend your fundraising time beyond one hour. Or check the suggested rundown option 2 for how to substitute it for one of the other segments in this latest fundraiser.
There are also short generic fundraising promos from Rick that you can use during Travel with Rick Steves, or even in other programming. They promote the value of contributing to your station and do not promote the Rick Steves premium package.
We've also provided you with a 30-second promo for the fundraiser. It promotes the content in segments B, C, and D.
The modules in this Travel with Rick Steves fundraiser should be appropriate for airing at any time of year.
Rundown Option 1 — Travel with Rick Steves Fundraiser 2021-2
- Uses full newscast and four segments (A, B, C and D)
- Provides four local pitch breaks of roughly 5 minutes each — shorten or eliminate the newscast, and adjust your start times accordingly, to get more local pitching time
- Print the 2021-2 Funder Rundown Option 1 (pdf)
| Run Time | Segment | (Length) |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 - 01:00 |
Billboard — Funder 2021-2
|
(1:00) |
| 01:00 - 06:00 |
NPR Newscast I & II
|
(5:00) |
| 06:00 - 15:16 |
Segment A — Funder 2021-2 "TED-x interview: Travel Can Change You"
|
(9:16) |
| 15:17- 20:00 |
LOCAL PITCH BREAK |
(4:43) |
| 20:00 - 29:59 |
Segment B — Funder 2021-2 "German Lessons"
|
(9:59) |
| 30:00 - 35:00 |
LOCAL PITCH BREAK |
(5:00) |
| 35:00 - 41:06 |
Segment C — Funder 2021-2 "Jessica Bruder — Nomadland"
|
(6:06) |
| 40:07 - 46:00 |
LOCAL PITCH BREAK Note: You can intersperse Rick's funder pitch spots with your local pitching in these longer pitch breaks. |
(5:53) |
| 46:00 - 54:09 |
Segment D — Funder 2021-2 "Lori Erickson — Tibetan Prayer Flags"
|
(8:09) |
| 54:10 - 1:00:00 |
CLOSING PITCH BREAK |
(5:50) |
Optional Extra Segment
You can extend beyond one hour with this upbeat funder feature, as an example of what Rick writes about in his book "For the Love of Europe," which is one of the fundraiser premiums being offered. We also provide you an option for using this within a one-hour time frame in Rundown Option 2.
Rundown Option 2 — Travel with Rick Steves Fundraiser 2021-2
- Uses segments B, C, D, and E
- Uses the billboard and short newscast to allow for longer local pitch breaks of around 6 minutes each
- Provides four local pitch breaks
- Print the 2021-2 Funder Rundown Option 2 (pdf)
| Run Time | Segment | (Length) |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 - 01:00 |
Billboard — Funder 2021-2
|
(1:00) |
| 01:00 - 04:00 |
NPR Newscast I |
(3:00) |
| 04:00 - 13:59 |
Segment B — Funder 2021-2 "German Lessons"
|
(9:59) |
| 14:00 - 20:00 |
LOCAL PITCH BREAK
Note: You can intersperse Rick's funder pitch spots with your local pitching in these longer pitch breaks. |
(6:00) |
| 20:00 - 26:06 |
Segment C — Funder 2021-2 "Jessica Bruder — Nomadland"
|
(6:06) |
| 26:07 - 33:00 |
LOCAL PITCH BREAK |
(6:53) |
| 33:00 - 41:09 |
Segment D — Funder 2021-2 "Lori Erickson — Tibetan Prayer Flags"
|
(8:09) |
| 41:10 - 47:00 |
LOCAL PITCH BREAK |
(5:50) |
| 47:00 - 54:17 |
Segment E — Funder 2021-2 "For the Love of Naples"
|
(7:17) |
| 54:17 - 1:00:00 |
CLOSING PITCH BREAK |
(5:43) |
Download "Travel with Rick Steves" 2021-2 Fundraiser Segments
Released September 2021
| .MP3 files | .MP2 files | |
|---|---|---|
| Billboard (1:00) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Segment A (9:16) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Segment B (9:59) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Segment C (6:06) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Segment D (8:09) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Segment E (7:17) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Promo — Funder 2021-2 (:30) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Premium Pitch A (mixed) (2:08) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Premium Pitch A (vox only) (2:08) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Premium Pitch B (mixed) (0:55) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Premium Pitch B (vox only) (0:55) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Rick's Riff closing pitch (mixed) (1:01) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Rick's Riff closing pitch (vox only) (1:01) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Generic 20-sec Rick extra pitch (mixed) (0:20) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Generic 20-sec Rick extra pitch (vox only) (0:20) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Generic 24-sec Rick Steves Funder Spot (0:24) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |
| Generic 29-sec Rick Steves Funder Spot (0:29) | Download mp3 | Download mp2 |