There is no listener supported community radio without LISTENER SUPPORT
In the nearly 10 years since WESU became a truly listener supported community radio station, we have never had to ask for donations this late into the calendar year. Sadly, donations for our annual winter pledge drive are down by roughly 25% from last year. We have seen less than 10 donations in the past 10 days and it is looking like we may not meet our goal.
On the other hand, 2013 was an amazing year for WESU, bringing our service to a larger audience than ever. We could easily exceed our fundraising goal if everyone reading this contributed as much as they could spare.
Our 9th Annual Winter pledge drive got hit by a perfect storm of sorts. First, the unusual alignment of the early winter holidays squeezed a critical week out of our student calendar. Luckily for us, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah will not converge for 70,000 years! It also appears that the rest of the public radio pledge drives (including our own partner, WSHU) were also in alignment, making support for WESU this late in the season a tough sell in today’s economy.
Additionally, and probably most significantly, our new-fangled “Kinder Gentler” approach to developing community support is not yet sophisticated enough to reach an already pledge tapped public radio listening audience.
While I understand the conditions and reasons for our substantial drop in donations, I am also faced with the burden of trying to raise nearly $4,000 in the next 4 days. Meeting this goal will keep WESU on track to close out 2013 and prepare for a successful 75th anniversary year.
Won’t you join me in helping bring in this landmark occasion with a strong showing of community support?
EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS & WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Donate online at www.wesufm.org/pledge
Thanks so much to those of you who have already shown your support during our annual winter pledge drive. Here’s to a happy healthy 2014 full of community radio!
Sincerely,
Ben Michael
General Manager
88.1 FM WESU
