Fund-Raising Falloff Gives PBS the Jitters : Television: The shaky economy has slowed membership renewals. Stations are trimming behind-the-scenes costs, concerned that programming may be next.

Scrawled at the top of an empty donation envelope returned to Los Angeles public-television station KCET, the note was short and to the point.

“Sorry,” the farmer wrote. “No crops. No money. Can’t renew at this time.”

Another viewer, a longtime contributor to the station, continued the theme: “I am sorry, but I can’t contribute anything, due to financial reverses.”

As the economy continues to worsen, one of the quiet casualties is public television. With corporate giving slowed and some state government appropriations also on the decline, the nation’s public stations enter their March pledge drives next week facing the toughest market for memberships and renewals in years.

KCET Channel 28 will wind up $1 million short of its fund-raising goals if membership continues to be as slow as it has been since the station’s fiscal year began in July, William Kobin, KCET president, predicted.

Washington station WETA is already short $550,000 because of slack membership renewals, said spokeswoman Ann Pincus. Two weeks ago, the station cut 13 jobs.

“It’s pretty much a roller coaster,” said William Baker, president of WNET in New York, where renewals are off by 15%. “I usually sleep pretty well, but I’ve had some sleepless nights here. My stomach has been more or less in butterflies the whole time.”

The effect of this year’s fund-raising shortfalls may be visible more quickly than in the past. Some stations have already cut personnel, and if they can’t trim any more from behind the scenes, officials say, programming may be next.

KCET, for example, has failed to obtain funding to continue its “L.A. History Project.” Kobin said that the station hopes to deal with potential financial troubles by freezing salaries and hiring, and by curtailing expenses, such as travel. Programs could be cut back as a last resort, he said, but he would not discuss the matter in detail.

The Persian Gulf War is also affecting giving. KPBS Channel 15 in San Diego, for example, planned ahead for the recession, laying off 14 employees last year and reducing revenue expectations for this year. But administration and finance manager Horst Bruenjes said that the station is bracing for unanticipated membership losses as the war begins to affect San Diego’s large military community.

The economy has had less of an effect at KOCE Channel 50 in Huntington Beach, said spokeswoman Judith Schaefer, in part because the station dramatically scaled back its operations several years ago. In addition, she said, the station is somewhat insulated because of its affluent service area.

Those stations that aren’t in the red seem to be staying afloat essentially because they had such bad years last year that they scaled down budgets and fund-raising projections.

“We hunkered down heading into this year,” said Walter Parsons, senior vice president for finance and administration for KCTS in Seattle. “We cut back 10% of our staff and set ourselves up to continue to be efficient.”

At WGBH in Boston, officials planned for a 3% to 5% increase in membership this year, instead of the typical 10% rise--and so far they aren’t even getting that, said Roberta MacCarthy, marketing and development director

“Our membership is flat and our renewal rates are flat,” MacCarthy said. Among those who do make donations, “our average gift is down. People are not giving as much.”

The problem is exacerbated by the seasonal nature of the membership-based portion of public television’s funding.

While most stations raise money in on-air drives three times a year--in August, December and March--the spring drive is the most critical because it comes just three months before the end of the fiscal year, when much of the stations’ revenue is already spent.

“Not only do we have zero operating margin, with no cushion,” Baker said, “but all of our numbers are back-loaded. It we don’t make it in March, there’s nothing we can do to recover. We’ll go into the red.”

Corporate giving is less seasonal, but it has also been off.

“We are having a tougher time this year getting funding for limited series, those kind of big-idea projects (such as its series, “Vietnam: A Television History”) than we have in the past,” said Christopher Ridley, spokesman for WGBH.

On the local level, WGBH lost three grants totaling $200,000 that were supposed to come from banks in the economically hard-hit Boston area, Ridley said. While a good portion of that has already been made up, the station will probably end the year $50,000 short in corporate gifts, he said.

Corporate giving is also down at KCET and WNET, according to officials there, but figures were not released. And WNET is facing a possible 50% reduction in its state funding.

“Between the economy and the war and all the other things that are out in the world, the only advice I can give to stations at this point is to stay the course,” said Steven Bass, director of national corporate support for the Public Broadcasting Service.

Stations have responded to the problem in a variety of ways. Most continue to be optimistic about corporate gifts, preferring euphemisms such as “challenging” to describe times that others might describe as bleak.

“Salesmen tend to be upbeat,” said one station executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They don’t want to send a signal to corporate America that, yes, it’s a bad time for us to be banging on their door.”

Response to the lag in individual memberships has been more mixed.

Some stations have found success by going to viewers, explaining the situation and begging for money.

That tactic has worked in New York, where two waves of layoffs and a wage freeze have still not stemmed the tide at WNET. But it is only successful for a while.

“You go on the air and you beg and the money comes in,” said station president Baker. “Then it stops.”

At KCET, executives have decided not to play off their possible budget shortfall during the 18-day, on-air pledge drive in March, according to executive vice president Donald Youpa.

“That works, but I don’t think it’s necessary,” Youpa said. “We’re taking a very positive approach, and we’re talking about the value of public television during these (difficult) times.”

WGBH is coping with the problem by offering a special $15 membership for those who can’t afford the station’s regular fee of $35. The idea, said MacCarthy, is to try to salvage some memberships from viewers who might otherwise not contribute at all.

“We’re going to be trying different techniques,” MacCarthy said. “We’re trying to have our marketing activities coordinated with the recession.”

The station has decided to focus a good part of its efforts on lower-end giving, and to that end has established challenges or “matching funds” for smaller amounts than normal. Executives have approached local businesses, and asked them to agree to match members’ contributions with donations of their own in the same amounts.

At the same time, WGBH and others say they have noticed that wealthier supporters tend to give more during times of stress. To that end, some stations are sending out special letters to high-end donors, asking them for support during tough times.

So many of these upscale viewers came to the stations’ rescue during the last recession in the early ‘80s that many officials are banking on their support again.

“Our product, our benefit is seen in the home on a daily basis,” said WGBH’s Ridley, especially during tough economic times, when people curtail spending for entertainment. “And the flip side is that we have this remarkably powerful fund-raising tool at our disposal. When the going gets tough we can always get on the air and scream a little louder, and beg a little harder.”