David Anderson is the vice president of development for WJCT. He has been employed by the station for almost five years.
WHAT DOES HE DEVELOP?
“My responsibility is for individual giving at the major and low level, small dollar giving. I don’t have responsibility for corporate giving. We at WJCT are in charge of a little over a $1 million a year in individual giving. That’s basically what we have to raise for the station to stay on the air. Most of those dollars go toward paying for programming, both radio and television.”
WHO PAYS ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS?
“We have state and federal dollars coming in that pay salaries.”
WHEN DID HE TAKE THE JOB?
“They kicked me upstairs a year ago.”
WOULD HE CONSIDER HIMSELF A SALESMAN?
“It’s a little different from corporate underwriting where they sell to a business. My job is based more on relationship building. People give money to an organization because they believe in that organization and the folks affiliated with that organization. You’ve got to believe in that concept and that we’ll be good stewards of your money. I am responsible for building trusting relationships and convincing them of the benefits to our community.”
WHO DOES HE SOLICIT?
“It’s a wide spectrum, but many givers are at the head of major corporations. An area we’re going into is planned giving. It is for people that have a reasonable establishment of wealth.”
WHAT IS PLANNED GIVING?
“People near the end of their life may want to leave a legacy of some form, so they write the station into their wills or living trusts. They can have an impact long after they are gone. That takes longer to mature and produce revenue for the station because people don’t just die when you ask them for money.”
HAS HE ALWAYS BEEN IN THIS FIELD?
“I’ve spent 25 years in public broadcasting, starting out as radio announcer. I realized I was not good enough to be an announcer so I went into television production. I enjoyed that but wanted to get into management. My expertise is taking troubled stations and making them solid, high-quality stations.”
HOW MANY STATIONS HAS HE WORKED FOR?
“Five. I started my career at Memphis State University. I went from there to the University of Tulsa. Next was the University of Syracuse, and then the University of Illinois.”
WHAT HAS HE DONE FOR WJCT?
“The radio station has strong programming now. Traditionally, our station had been somewhat of an underperformer in individual giving. It is my responsible, not only to raise money, but to bring it up to a level appropriate for this size market.”
HOW GENEROUS HAS THE COMMUNITY BEEN LATELY?
“Giving is up and expenses are down. Where we would like to be is 25 cents to the dollar [fundraising costs to donations].”
HOMETOWN
West Palm Beach.
EDUCATION
Anderson attended Florida State University to become a psychologist. From his part-time work in college at the local radio station, he discovered he enjoyed the broadcasting industry much more.
FAMILY
Marion, Anderson’s wife, is in the same business. She works for Brooks Health Foundation, the fundraising arm of the rehabilitation clinic. They both have two grown children. On a nice day they like to feed the geese that congregate at the lake behind their house.
WHAT ARE HIS HOBBIES?
Woodworking and watching movies, especially Alfred Hitchcock suspense films, are his passions. Trips to botanical gardens are what Anderson admits fascinate him the most though, as he is a gardener at heart. “If I had enough money, I would plant every day. Ironically, when I was a child, I hated yard work.”
— by Monica Tsai