Rocky Mountain PBS (RMPBS) is leveraging the trust and awareness of the PBS KIDS brand as well as the station’s broad on-air reach to identify and engage informal caregivers across Colorado. Working with Bright By Three, a local nonprofit, RMPBS is experimenting with text messaging as a vehicle for delivering tips and other resources to this important constituency.

One of the challenges we’ve found when holding community outreach events is that the population we'd most like to reach doesn't always have the means or time to get there. So Prairie Public Education Services in Fargo has begun staging “Pop Up with Prairie Public” events – spontaneous “happenings” in which we suddenly show up in targeted neighborhoods instead of expecting them to come to us.

WVIZ/ideastream® built a sponsorship package around the idea that its closed captioning service is one of the more visible and familiar examples of the station's public service. This positioning captured the attention of a long-term prospect -a children's hospital --that signed on as a sponsor and has renewed for 2 years since.

Using the PBS KIDS Writers Contest as the focus, WSKG successfully solicited its Leadership Society for additional gifts in support of the station’s commitment to literacy and early education. After some advance work researching and cultivating donor interests, WSKG sent a direct appeal to Leadership Society members which resulted in additional fiscal-year-end funding for the station.

Over 3,000 people attended OETA’s first annual free PBS KIDS SUMMERFEST last month at the Greenwood Cultural Center in Tulsa. Targeting kids aged 4-8, the six-hour event consisted of 20 learning activity stations, physical activity, a STEM Fair and a day-long concert just for kids.

Rocky Mountain PBS’ education and production services are proving key components in the station’s ability to leverage PBS KIDS-oriented community partnerships that lead to meaningful engagement with families, educators and funders alike. 

Attendance to the Utah Education Association (UEA) Convention had been on the decline, after the state cut funding for the convention and teachers were no longer paid to attend. So, KUED and UEA teamed up to increase attendance by encouraging teachers, teachers with young children of their own, and families to attend the conference. Three years later, the results are impressive. 

PBS congratulates the dedicated staff of WVIZ / ideastream for its commitment to improving the lives of children in the communities of Northeast Ohio. The station was recently recognized by the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation as part of the organization’s annual Celebration of Service to America Awards.  

When cuts in state funding threatened the future of KEET's StoryTime community workshops, the station got creative about funding options. With sustainer giving a growing part of public television stations’ membership programs across the country, KEET saw an opportunity to put a twist on sustainer giving and create a special sustainer category for its local workshop beneficiaries.

With a consistent daytime PBS KIDS schedule, strong online content, extensive tools and resources for parents and educators, and regular educational outreach services to at-risk families, KERA has successfully positioned itself as a valued, visible go-to resource for all Dallas area families. This steadfast commitment to PBS KIDS has led to several multi-year grants for existing services. 

This year, as one of 10 local PBS stations piloting PBS KIDS’ Be My Neighbor Day, Arizona PBS approached “El Día de los Niños”--an annual celebration emphasizing the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds-- with the theme of “giving back.” 

In Reno, PBS member station KNPB has leveraged the annual PBS KIDS Writers Contest to foster a love of reading and writing among its youngest citizens, and to engage the community in ways that increase the visibility of KNPB’s local PBS KIDS service beyond broadcast and generate additional financial support.

Since 2009, WQED and The EQT Foundation have worked together to shape and grow the annual Pittsburgh-based PBS KIDS Writers Contest into a year-round regional literacy initiative with broad reach and impact. 

Georgia Public Broadcasting is experimenting with replacing traditional membership premiums with book donations to local literacy organizations on the donor’s behalf. For an annual $120 gift to the station (or a sustaining monthly donation of $10), GPB donates a total of 10 books to children in underserved communities across Georgia in the member’s name.