Interview: Andie Jankowski, WERS’s Marvelous Membership Coordinator

Staff writer Emma D’Addabbo spoke to WERS Membership Coordinator Andie Jankowski about the behind-the-scenes specificities of radio fundraising, Radiohead, and the work that keeps Boston's music ecosystem healthy. 

OK, Andy: What drew you to pursue WERS?

I started as a student. In 2017, I was a freshman here at Emerson, starting as a journalism major because there was no radio major. The first thing I did as a student was audition to be on-air. I went straight into live every weekend doing All A Capella, which does not exist anymore, but was after Standing Room Only on the weekends. I did that throughout all four years, even when COVID-19 hit in 2020. I also joined the news team during my freshman year, but then I quickly realized how much I hated waking up early, which ultimately helped in the realization that I did not want to continue in journalism. I joined the membership team the summer after my freshman year ended. I had a friend in the position who said it was cool. 

That first summer when I was a student in membership, we had a free music festival in the Boston Common called the Wicked Good Festival. It was free for anyone to attend, and seeing how much community we could bring in and how much people really loved music in Boston, I was like, “Wow this is really cool,” and that I would rather be doing this instead. So, I changed my major from journalism to marketing because I wanted to learn more about this side of things. I stayed in the membership position from then on until I graduated.

Six months after graduation I received a call from [Howard] D [Simpson], the General Manager, and he told me how the current people in membership were leaving and that there was no one else who knew how to use the specific database like I did. Long story short, I became a temp in January of 2022. We did a spring fundraiser that year, and we had a really good outcome, which is when they asked me if I wanted to come on as full-time. After saying yes, a few months later I realized I needed a boss, which then led to them hiring Mary [Lewis-Pierce] as the Membership Development Officer in August of 2022. We’ve been working as a team ever since!

What specifically do you do as Membership Coordinator?

I go through all the donations that we receive; I put my eyes on them. If they’re already a donor, that everything has gone through, if the donor asks for a t-shirt or a hat, we’re the ones to send that out in the mail, regularly being in touch with finance and advancement services here at Emerson, and once a month or so just reaching out to people who need to update their card information for their monthly membership!

Organizing all of the fundraisers too, especially the ones in the spring and the fall, which happens to be when the other [Non-profit radio] and public radio stations are fundraising too. We’re this small voice in this sea of people begging for money and we like to frame ourselves as an oasis away from news, commercials, and the craziness of the world. We really just want to focus on the music. That’s how we’ve been able to find our voice in the world of fundraising. 

What has been your favorite project (or live show) to come out of WERS?

The Wicked Good Festival that happened in 2018. Since it was in the Boston Common, anyone could just walk over and see artists performing for free. We had a bunch of vendors – smaller artists and local artists. Buffalo Tom, Juliana Hatsfield, and the Bleachers were the headliners. The weather was super rainy and overall dreary that day, but just as we were setting up the tent so that Bleachers wouldn’t get rained on, the clouds parted and the sun shined, causing them to be able to play. It was the best experience I’ve ever lived through. 

That was my favorite thing to be a part of because I got to see how many people cared about WERS and cared about music; we even had listeners and students volunteering! It was just really cool to be a part of that. When planning all of our fundraisers, in the moment we’re thinking, “This is torture,” but once we do them and it’s all over, the realization on how much we truly loved it hits us. Every single fundraiser is better than the last. It’s just getting better and better with everything that we’re doing.

What kind of preparations do y’all need to have done for the fundraiser(s)?

We start by looking at the calendar to see when other stations are fundraising, [if] there’s a holiday, and when spring break is. These all play a part in trying to find a time where we aren’t competing with another station, while also making sure the students aren’t on spring break because it’s an all-hands-on-deck ordeal.

Once we have the dates, we look for a grand prize – typically being a festival or multiple concerts – which then leads to what the name will be for that fundraiser. Like how this past one was “ERS-A-PALOOZA” because the ultimate prize was two tickets to the Lollapalooza Festival. After we have all of this, we start to look at other giveaways as well, attempting to have a smaller prize for every weekday of the drive.

We interact a lot with Ken [West], the Brand Manager, who’s been in the radio world for a while now, causing him to be really close with the people who run music festivals. We typically ask him what he has [as ticket options] or ask if he can help to obtain certain tickets. After this is when we make sure to have all of the prizes ready, including making sure that we have plenty of merch, restocking it if need be.

After we check these things off we make sure to check in with the Student Program Coordinator to help with scheduling students for our on-air pitches. That in itself is a difficult process because of how students have jobs, classes, organizations, and overall other commitments. I then write pages upon pages of what we call “pitch cards,” these are just paragraphs that a student can rely on while giving pitches on-air. These cards encourage listeners to donate by stating the how and why a member could donate! 

Then comes the goals! Mary is the one that does that by calculating how much was made per hour each day of the previous year. This results in what the hourly goals are as well as the certain topics that should be discussed for this year's fundraiser! This entire process is quick, often only using a month or a month and a half to put it all together.

Speaking of Mary, what is it like working with her?

Honestly, I could get emotional. She’s the best boss I could ever ask for, she’s so considerate, understanding, and thoughtful. Truthfully, she’s helped me a lot as a person too. I’ve struggled a lot with anxiety and a big part of the job involves talking to donors on the phone, so she sat me down and said “Andie, we gotta do this!” Just knowing that she’s there for me and will help me if I need to, like if I start panicking while on a phone call or something, is relieving. Not only that, but she’s helped me grow as a professional too.

With the work, we tend to split it up very evenly. We both have strengths and understand that, so we tend to decide who gets what task based on said skills. We’re more of coworkers than her being my boss. We’re a team. But seriously, it’s been great working with her. It's very cool working with someone who’s professional fundraising background isn’t just in radio. Because of her other experiences, she brings in a new perspective and great ideas that are very useful to us at WERS, some of which I don’t think someone who comes from only radio could come up with. She’s not afraid to push the envelope, to push for us to do things differently. 

What do you wish more students knew before getting involved with WERS?

It’s gonna look good on your resume, but specifically if you’re involved in the membership side of things. We teach you fundraising fundamentals that can be used for any sort of job in the professional world, especially a non-profit. If you want to be involved with public media in any way this is a really good starting point. 

What song or album have you currently been listening to?

Radiohead is one of my all time favorite bands. I’m currently going through an “OK Computer” phase. It has no skips.

Lastly, is there anything else you would like to say that I didn’t touch upon?

One time I brought my cat, Oliver, to the station.