Supporting NPR

JOHNSON CITY –  (April 23, 2018) The phones began ringing at 7 a.m. today in the studio of WETS-FM (89.5 MHz), East Tennessee State University’s public radio station. Volunteers will be manning the phone banks as listeners call with pledges and contributions in support of WETS. But that’s only the second phase of the campaign. Listeners have been making contributions at the station’s website www.wets.org since last week, and some supporters won’t need to call at all.

“For the last several years, we have seen a significant increase in the number of sustaining members,” says Wayne Winkler, the director of WETS since 1993. “Sustaining members make an automatic monthly contribution of $5, $10, $20 or whatever amount they choose. These contributions are not tied to the on-air fundraiser but continue every month. For a lot of people, it’s easier to contribute $10 each month than to make a one-time contribution of $100. Of course, many of our listeners still prefer to make a one-time contribution.”

WETS-FM, like virtually all non-commercial public radio and television stations, depends on listener support to maintain its programming. Federal funding, distributed through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, makes up less than 10 percent of the WETS budget. ETSU’s share of the budget comes primarily in the form of salaries for the station’s six full-time employees. The cost of programming, most of which originates from National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Corporation, is borne, for the most part, by listeners.  During the fiscal year 2017, that cost was $361,652.

At public radio stations across the country, the method of raising money is fairly standard as announcers go on air and ask listeners to call and contribute with credit or debit cards, or to make a pledge to be paid later.

“Our first on-air fundraiser at WETS was in February of 1979,” recalls Winkler, who was a newly-hired announcer at that time. “We raised something like $15,000 and thought we were on top of the world. During the last fiscal year, WETS raised just under half a million dollars. We’ve gotten better at this.”

One reason for that success is the growth of the audience for public radio nationwide. According to the Pew Research Center for Journalism and Media, the top 20 NPR affiliates in the country had a weekly audience of about 10 million in 2017, up from nine million in 2016. While commercial radio listenership is decreasing overall, the audience for public radio is growing.

Winkler attributes that growth to the quality of NPR’s news coverage. “Morning Edition has the biggest audience of any morning news program, radio or television,” he says. “NPR’s coverage of the 2016 presidential election generated significant growth in our audience numbers, but more than a year after the election, the audience numbers continue to rise.”

More listeners means more contributors, and in the 2017 fiscal year, WETS raised over $100,000 more than in the previous year. “The election had a lot to do with that,” says Winkler, “along with the fact that there were renewed calls for ending federal funding for public broadcasting. That always stimulates listener support.”

He shrugs at the possibility of cuts in federal funding. “There have been threats to end public broadcasting funding since the 1970s, and every so often Congress does reduce the appropriation. If it happens, it happens. It would hurt the system as a whole but it’s not going to put us out of business. I think our listeners would step up to make up the loss.”

Innovations in fundraising have helped increase the amount WETS raises every year. “When we did our first fundraiser in 1979, we didn’t have the ability to take contributions by credit card,” Winkler recalls. “We sent out reminders to the people who had pledged on the phone, and they sent back checks. Credit cards made the process more convenient and efficient, and online contributing allows listeners to make contributions at any time, not just when the station has volunteers to answer phones.

“Sustaining memberships allow listeners to spread out their contributions into monthly payments, which can be set up for a specific period of time, such as a year, or can be open-ended, at least until the expiration date of the credit card.”

Winkler acknowledges the assistance of University Advancement, which coordinates all of ETSU’s fundraising efforts, and the ETSU Foundation, which manages the money raised by WETS. “Most of our sustaining members would like to keep their monthly contributions going indefinitely. We can set that up easily enough, but when the card expires, it’s often several months before the contributor renews that membership with a new card. It’s an inconvenience for the member and a loss of money for us.

“Working with ETSU Advancement and Foundation, we were able to establish an electronic funds transfer, which makes a monthly payment from the member’s checking account,” Winkler added.  “Of course, the member can make changes or end the contribution at any time, but most prefer to let it continue. That way when we go on the air to ask for contributions, those members know they’re already making an ongoing contribution.”

These sustaining memberships, along with contributions made online, mean that fewer people call during the fundraisers to make their contributions. “That’s fine with us,” Winkler says. “We’ve reduced the number of days we have volunteers in the station to answer phones. But when we’re asking for calls, it seems the phones are as busy as they ever were. And no matter how many contributions we get online or through electronic transfer, we’ll always have a few days when volunteers are taking contributions by phone. It’s the quickest and simplest way, and the most effective way to bring in new members.

“And we enjoy talking with our listeners and our volunteers.”

The WETS spring fundraiser will continue through Friday, April 27, at 7 p.m. Contributions can be made by calling 888-895-9387 (WETS), or online at www.wets.org.

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