NPR and fundraising

I was going to call this “KVCR is My Source for Travel, but that title was already taken by a friend.  Please though, check out that blog.

Around a year and a half ago, a friend of mine was complaining (on facebook) that it was fundraising time at his local station. He wasn’t complaining about the fundraising pleas per se, but rather that one of the local hosts continually fumbled anything she wasn’t used to saying (I couldn't help but think of the PA announcer from M*A*S*H - the movie). One of his friends made that comment that she really hated all these people begging for money, and that this was the time she turns off the radio and gets all her favorite NPR shows via podcast. I jumped in to remind her that us “begging for money” (listener support) is a part of what even makes her little podcasts possible!

I went on to point out a lot of what NPR offers every day: in-depth news…going beyond the headlines or some flashy sound byte. The sound bytes are there, but they’re the type of sound that makes you think you’re, oh…sailing along a river…or running next to a tank in Afghanistan. Or in some jazz club or music festival somewhere. Only yesterday, Victor Wooten was on Talk of the Nation. He didn’t just talk about playing music…he was there bass in hand. We heard it…and experienced it. Long story short (too late), NPR and public radio bring you what you cannot get elsewhere on the dial. And you learn – whether you meant to or not.

It’s easy to pledge financial support to your local public radio station. And that’s just it – when I talk to people, or blog, about supporting public radio…that’s what I’m talking about. I’m not trying to drum up support for the station I work at (though you CAN make your pledge of support at kvcr.orghttp://kvcr.org/). I’m trying to convince people to support whatever public radio station they listen to. One dollar a week, 5 dollars a month…you decide how much. Any - any - amount can be spread out over a year.

The simple fact is that if everyone who listened gave – even only a dollar or two per year - we wouldn’t have to go on the air at all for these pesky little drives.

If you listen – thank you. If you’re a contributing member – at any level – thank you all the more. We really couldn’t do it without you…and you are why we’re here.

Make your thoughts known - here, and at your local station.