WILL Press Room
WILL Wins PBS Award
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
WILL/Illinois Public Media has been awarded the PBS Award for Excellence in Overall Development, the highest honor for station fundraising activities during the 2009 fiscal year.
WILL was initially awarded the Overall Development Award for markets under 500,000 television households and then was selected as the overall winner from submissions from all market sizes.
PBS president Paula Kerger, in a letter to WILL general manager Mark Leonard, said the station was chosen for its innovative work during the past year. “I commend your development team’s passion and commitment,” she said.
WILL’s awards submission noted that the station had its most successful year ever in total annual giving, despite one of the most severe economic downturns in memory and the recent analog shutoff/DTV conversion, which confused and angered some viewers.
Among the steps WILL took to achieve its fundraising success was taking a more outward, or community-focused approach, said Illinois Public Media development director George Hauenstein. “We began to build new networks and relationships with people and other organizations, get them involved in setting our agenda, and integrate the community engagement principles into our work, station-wide.” That approach is beginning to pay off, he said.
Awards will be presented at the 2010 PBS Annual Meeting, to be held in Austin, Texas, in May.