In the fall of 2014 Kliff Kuehl of KCPT and Kelly McCullough of Arizona PBS began discussing the formation of a working group, consisting of 10 to 15 Public Television Stations from across the country, to provide unique travel and cultural experiences for major supporters of local public television.

OVERVIEW

The Public Television Investors Network was formed to create a multiple day, immersive PBS experience that would bring talent and station supporters together with exclusive events at the center. In most cases the event would be limited to 20 to 40 people with each station having the option to invite multiple couples. A contracted event organizer would manage the planning of outings, food, drink and hotel and each guest would be responsible for their own airfare and a trip fee (this would change depending on the trip- we would hope it to be no more than $1,000 and $3,000 per person/per trip). Station CEOs and Major Gift Officers control invitations and select supporters to invite personally. The reason for these events would be:

To provide local stations access to “national” resources that will help in the cultivation/stewardship process.

An opportunity to share incredible experiences with station supporters.

Provide a cost effective opportunity to invest in national events for station supporters, without having to plan an out of town event using 100% station resources.

For many stations, the ability to invite donors to an exclusive opportunity would be as valuable as attendance.

EVENTS

Artful Travelers was consulted and then contracted to produce the events. Over the course of two years station supporters enjoyed multiple trips to New York City to meet the cast of Downton Abbey, take in Broadway and the PBS Newshour Studios. There were also visits to Los Angeles for the summer PBS Press Tour and most recently a trip to Napa where guests experienced food, wine and a behind the scenes look at the American Masters program “Flight of the Chefs”.

TRANSITION TO PBS DEVELOPMENT

In the spring of 2016, the Public TV Investor’s Network was transitioned