Carly Ann Taylor – I love “The Wonderful Blood” by Tiffany Hudson because it speaks a simple truth in a fresh and vulnerable way. It’s a beautiful and sweet expression of deep surrender and worship of Jesus as our friend and Savior. This song has brought me so much healing and tranquility. I think more people need to experience this song and the anointing on Tiffany Hudson.

Charity Gayle – “BE MY” by Ryan Kennedy!

Hope Darst – “Praise You All The Same” by Erik Nieder!

Jason Gray – If I could add one new song to radio (besides mine ), I’d add Josh Wilson’s “How Loved You Are” for a few reasons: it’s already proven that it resonates on social media, its message seems to meet listeners right where they are, and Josh is an artist whose work deserves to be heard. He’s a loving and wise songwriter—and one of the best human beings I know.

If I could add two, I’d also add Ross King’s “Faith Alone” because it’s one of the most truthful songs I’ve heard in a while, born out of what he learned through his wife’s cancer journey and death. If we aren’t playing deeply honest music that encourages people toward deeper truthfulness, then what are we doing?

And if I could add three, I’d add Switchfoot’s “Two Twins.” It’s meaningful, smart, and resonant, from one of the best bands and one of the best songwriters in our genre. What a gift Switchfoot is to our time and place.

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Would you want to work for you?

Would you know what was expected of you, and what winning looks like?

Would you feel trusted to make decisions, try something new, and occasionally get it wrong?

Would you hear when you’re doing a great job, or mostly hear when something needs to change?

Would you feel like your ideas were welcomed and your voice mattered?

Would you believe your leader cared about developing you as much as they cared about what you produced?

And maybe most importantly: Would you know that you mattered beyond the work you do?

In Christian radio, we spend a lot of time thinking about the people on the other side of the speakers. Boss’s Day might be a good opportunity to think about the people on the other side of our office doors, too.

None of us gets leadership right all the time. But we can keep asking ourselves the hard questions. Are we listening? Are we developing our people? Do they know we trust them? And, maybe most importantly, do they know they matter?

That might be worth thinking about this Boss’s Day.

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– Ron Harrell, StoryFinder, Harrell Media Group

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If seasonal listeners discover your stations through streaming/social/search, what happens next? 

Lara Dykes – Digital Content Supervisor, The Light FM (WMIT)

We put a heavy emphasis on-air for folks to sign up for Advent text messages throughout the month of December. We bring daily devotional thoughts/verses/videos from air talent and artists we play on The Light FM, as well as a weekly (Sunday) devotion, when people opt-in for Advent. After Christmas is over, we invite folks to continue their faith journey with The Light FM by downloading our Going Deeper 365-Day Bible Reading plan. Additionally, we just try to provide the same content year-round. Whether it’s Christmas themed or during any other season, our focus is sharing Jesus, encouraging the audience to follow Him and make them laugh a little (or a lot) while we’re doing it. The question is always ‘how can we lead them deeper?’

Beyond the music, what are listeners actually coming to Christian radio for at Christmas? 

Randy Fox – Program Director, KSBJ

I think nostalgia is part of what many people want from the Christmas season. For Christian radio specifically, I think they also want to experience Christmas through a lens that reflects their values. We don’t need to be overly religious about it, but we should convey that Christmas is about more than buying gifts and going to parties.

What reasons are you giving your listeners to choose your station during the holidays? What does that look like?

Brandi Reichert – Director of Strategic Marketing, JOY FM

We LOVE Christmas!  Not only is the music different … there are so many amazing Christmas concerts and events to promote and invite listeners to!  So, we are very active in the community during this time. In November, we are planning a Home for the Holidays promotion, where someone will be able to fly a loved one home for the holidays!  Stories will be submitted online and one lucky winner will win transportation, hotel (if needed) … plus a gift certificate to help with meals and Christmas shopping to make Christmas extra special this year. In December, we go share JOY with places that may not be very joyful … places like the DMV, Salvation Army Rehabilitation Center and Assisted Living Communities.  We have also gone to visit big not for profits or organizations who are helping others, but may not be thought of during this time, like Mercy Hospital and the St. Louis Area Foodbank. We bring a DJ or two … a special giveaway or activity that feels intentional and appropriate for each of the different places we go.  Plus, we partner with Chick-fil-A for this, so we bring food and the Chick-fil-A cow (which is a big hit)!

This may be someone’s first encounter with your morning show. Are you giving them reasons to connect and come back? What does that look like?

Keith Stevens / Morning Show Host, KTIS

We have the unique position of being the “commercial free” Christmas station in the market!  We’ll attract new listeners  by offering up  top testing  familiar Christmas songs 24-7, a large billboard campaign, and playing zero commercials or “marketing partner” spots. Connecting with our new listeners through our “Christmas Blessings” promotion gives them a memorable reason to feel connected locally, compassionately, and emotionally, while hearing songs they love! That’s my aim each morning; providing spiritual encouragement and hopeful stories that make people feel the goodness of God. The pure emotion of “Christmas Blessings” is like no other campaign and truly represents Christ’s compassion through the radio.  “Christmas Blessings” is my morning centerpiece, a way of fulfilling the needs of our audience, nominated by our listeners, and connecting the nominator and recipient together on the air. The stories often go viral and are the showcase of the morning show. In addition to Christmas Blessings, we keep our talk breaks concise, obvious, and profound. Along with my co-host, Pam Lundell, we share  stories that are Christ centered and inspiring,  with real life connection. This strongly creates a warm, welcoming atmosphere for new listeners to return and want more. 

Christmas naturally opens doors for generosity and service, but how do you do that without adding to the noise? 

Matt Wall – President & CEO, Carolina Christian Radio

The team at Life 90.5 in Wilmington, NC looks at the Christmas season as our time to shine the light of the gospel into our community.  We run a huge billboard campaign beginning the last week of November that attracts the eyes of the whole family during the busy start of the Christmas season. Moms, dads and grandparents are looking for the best Christmas experiences for their children and grandchildren. Life 90.5 goes 100% Christmas including Rudolph and Frosty and O Holy Night from the Bing Crosby / Nat King Cole / Elvis classics to the new CCM modern Christmas hits.  This presents such an awesome opportunity to provide these experiences for the kids and families and share the hope of the gospel between the songs to those who are lost and broken.  During this season, there is also the opportunity to invite listeners into generosity as a way to spread the hope they are experiencing.  But how do we invite without disrupting the message?  Our team has developed a unique on air fundraising calendar that has proven to enhance the experience rather than disrupt it.  The 3- week on-air fundraising calendar begins the Monday after Thanksgiving in the form of “pop-up” fundraiser hours with heart warming stories of spiritual impact mostly voiced by listeners.  There is 1 pop-up hour of fundraising per daytime daypart.  This has proven to prevent listener fatigue as well as create the right amount of urgency… “Only 1 hour to fundraise this morning / midday / evening.”  Also, this has worked so well to prevent the host fatigue that can so easily come across on the air with the traditional consecutive hours approach. 

We asked everyone the same question, “You’ve spent weeks bringing in new listeners. What is your plan for December 26? How are you turning Christmas listeners into year round listeners?”

SOCIAL & DIGITAL

Lara Dykes – Digital Content Supervisor, The Light FM (WMIT)

The Light FM’s main focus during the Christmas season is telling the Christmas story through our own Christmas memories. We retell our favorite memories and the emotion behind them! Then – the rest of the year, we do the same thing (just without the Christmas part and a little less jingle bells). We try our best to tell such authentic stories both on air and online, that folks feel nostalgic and want to keep that feeling all year. December 26 is back to regularly scheduled story telling – we just want to tell whatever Jesus story we have and invite our listeners and viewers along (and give them space to tell their stories, too).

MUSIC & PROGRAMMING

Randy Fox – Program Director, KSBJ

Throughout the Christmas season, we’ll run imaging that highlights what we offer all year: hope, encouragement, and music that’s not just Christian, but powerful, uplifting, and fun to listen to. We’ll also launch our 7 Day Challenge, encouraging those listeners to stay with us beyond Christmas and experience the difference listening to us can make. I have some great stories from people who first started listening because of the Christmas music. It is a great way to bring in those who would normally never listen.

MARKETING

Brandi Reichert – Director of Strategic Marketing, JOY FM

In January, we will kick off the new year with More JOY Everyday on JOY FM.  As listeners come back to normal schedules, they will be invited to tune in every day for a different prize package that will help bring more JOY to their days!  The contest runs for three weeks.  Each day’s giveaways are valued at over $500 and are created to help people spend more time with family and friends (or even just treat themselves) … concert tickets, packages of sports tickets, staycations, jewelry and more!  

ON–AIR

Keith Stevens – Morning Show Host, KTIS

On the morning show, I’ll share a “key word” daily during Christmas programming for “new listeners” to text!  When they do, they’ll get an opportunity to reply with their name, information and tell a little bit about why they listen and how they found us.  After Christmas, I’ll call a new listener each day, welcoming them to the station, and invite them personally to listen every morning. As a surprise and delight, not mentioned on the air, we’ll send them some welcoming swag in the mail and hope to begin a new relationship with them. I’ll select a new 

name each day throughout January.   And of course, the fabric of compelling stories, and spiritual encouragement they enjoyed in December, will continue throughout January and beyond. Consistency and authentic delivery is Key! I’m so excited to see what God will do! 

FUNDRAISING

Matt Wall – President & CEO, Carolina Christian Radio

Immediately after Christmas and into the New Year, the pivot goes to an opportunity to engage in the community impact of spreading the hope of Jesus through our Valentines from Jesus program where hundreds of listeners sign up to participate every year. They are invited to sign up for a number of Valentine balloons with a small heart shaped box of chocolates and a printed Valentines card from Jesus with John 3:16 printed on the card.  Listeners are engaged and spreading the joy and hope of Jesus on Valentines Day. The team at Life 90.5 has witnessed year after year of great momentum with this Christmas / New Years / Valentines Day cycle.

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A special thank you to Kelly Brandon of The Light FM and Clint Lewis of KCBI for helping us celebrate and encourage some of the teams hosting fundraising efforts this fall.

Is your station hosting an upcoming fundraiser? We’d love to pray for you and your team! Email us at info@cmbonline.org and let us know how we can be praying.

 

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The post Praying for Fall Fundraisers first appeared on CMB.

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We asked a few leaders in Christian radio to share what they’re seeing. Here’s what they had to say…

“The Fall Fundraiser starts this week and our leadup has been solid so far, trending ahead of the 25 Fall Fundraiser pre-drive. For fiscal 27, (Started July 1) overall we are up in revenue from the previous year, but actual ministry partners are down slightly from this point in fiscal 26.  Really, that’s no surprise for general giving across most organizations and of course in the industry, for years it’s been less people giving more money.  Still, given the economic situation that has changed from a year ago and fear and confusion that is rampant in this world, to be up at all at this point is a tremendous blessing from God! We continue to ramp up storytelling, especially for all the “value added” parts of the ministry above and beyond radio. It proves once again that even in tough economic times, people WILL support an organization that supports them through that tough situation.  In other words, people will sacrifice and reach out to help ministries to make sure they (and others) can easily reach for God.” – John Brock, Senior Fundraising Strategist (Intentional Living Ministries / Family Life Radio)

“We kicked off a great season last week. The station we were serving raised more during their own air event than they have in the previous three years, despite a crazy economy and high gas prices and also despite it being the anniversary of the killing of Charlie Kirk and 911. Sharing about the Ministry Impact is obviously key to people engaging. But the two things we are seeing that seems to be new are these: (1) Simplify the ask. Tell people what you need, why, and ask for it. (2) This seems to be a very important one. Have fun! Many people commented that it sounded like we were having a great time and they wanted to be a part of the excitement.” – Jack Eason, President (Heart Share)

“There are lots of mechanics to consider in fundraising, but we’ve found that when we communicate our love and joy for the mission of sharing Jesus, the invitation to support it feels less like an ask and more like an opportunity to belong and participate in something they deeply believe in. People want to know they’re contributing to something meaningful and helping make a real difference. They want to be a part of something that matters.” – Suzanne Happs, Sr. Director, Media Ministries (Northwestern Media)

“It turns out the stations seeing the strongest fundraising results aren’t relying on earth-shattering programming insights… just a few shared habits that keep proving themselves. First, they champion a mission that listeners actually want to join. The wording may change from station to station, but the heartbeat is the same: when people believe in what you’re trying to do, they naturally want to help you do more of it. Second, they don’t treat fundraising like a once‑or‑twice‑a‑year “on‑air event,” but as something that can happen anytime. That shift alone opens the door for more listeners to give on their terms instead of ours. Third, they make the impact unmistakably clear. When a station shows donors exactly what their gift accomplishes, the donor suddenly sees where they fit in the mission. And once they see that, every on‑air story becomes a little window into the return on their investment, a reminder that God is using their station to do something with eternal weight” – Jon Hull, Consultant, Audience Growth (Finney Media)

“It’s challenging, no doubt because of the economy and other issues, however, people are stepping up and helping to meet the goals. Stations that are connecting with your audience still have their audience wanting to give. I’m personally looking forward to a phenomenal fundraising season.” – Bill Scott, Chief Client Officer (Vidare Creative)

“The Bridge launched a special fundraising campaign this year in celebration of our country’s 250th anniversary. This campaign was about more than giving. We invited our Bridge family to help grow the ministry by introducing new listeners to The Bridge and sharing stories of how God has used The Bridge to make an impact in their lives. We were blessed to exceed our financial goal and incredibly encouraged by the response. We are grateful to see our Bridge family come together to help expand the reach and impact of this ministry. – Jeff Twilley, President/General Manager (The Bridge)

The post What’s Working in Fundraising Right Now? first appeared on CMB.

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– Beth Bacall, Media Personality – Finney Media Talent Coach 

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– Daryl Pierce, Program Director, Hope 100.7/93.7 The Light

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– Chris Hauser, Owner/President, Chris Hauser Promotions

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– Adam Hannan, Station Manager, Life 88.5

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