College radio funding discussion

[jcharles00]

I guess college operations are in a somewhat unique situation as far as budgets are concerned. Some are funded through the University, some can do underwriting, most can accept charitable donations.

My experience with other schools stations and their funding is very limited, so I thought it'd be interesting to hear how some other stations are doing it.

In my own case, we don't get anything from the University at all, and have been putting off underwriting efforts until our operation is a little more solid. this leaves donations (begging), of which we've been pretty successful at getting financial gifts from academic units on campus, as well as old gear from dead dorm stations and the bigger campus NPR station.

I guess a couple of the things I'd like to hear about are if anyone has been at a station that was not University funded and figured out how to get money from them, as well as good ways to solicit donations from commercial stations (in terms of equipment) and the general public (money) .

 

[neo11]

The college station I was a part of for several years, including PD and GM responsibilities, did receive funding from the University (mostly through the Undergraduate student activity fee, with some direct university support and funds from the Graduate student activity fee), but it was only good for approximately 50% of the station's operating expenses, and that based on a bare-bones budget without much wiggle room to get much-needed new equipment (our console was over 30 years old!).

We did not do much underwriting for whatever reason, but the bulk of the remaining money came through our twice-annual "Radiothon," in the spring and fall. Each Radiothon would last around three weeks, during which we would raise money for the station in much the same manner as many other non-commercial stations...with pledge tiers and various premiums (CDs, t-shirts, caps, mugs, concert tickets, gift certificates, various other giveaways we were able to gather). To draw in listeners, we would air lots of special themed programming during these three week periods, which proved to be popular. Everything from "Reggaethon" to an Elvis Costello marathon to a hip-hop marathon and much more. Even without doing actual marathons, many of our on-air hosts would often plan special versions of their shows and air them during their regular timeslots. We would publicize all of this well ahead of time on the air, on our website and by issuing press releases to the various local and community newspapers, who often would print them verbatim. On-air hosts were required to pitch during their programs on a consistent basis, and in recent years, required to come in at least once a week at a time other than during their timeslot to answer phones and to help prepare mailings to those who pledged.

Between the spring and fall radiothons we were usually able to raise the rest of the money needed to keep the station on the air and meet our expenses.

 

[rcs]

There are several ways to get money from a college that come to mind:
1. Set up the station as a club or a student activity and apply for money from the student government association.
2. Make arrangements with the administration to create a special additional fee that students have to pay to help fund the station.
3. Allow the school's communications department to use the studios for academic purposes and in return for the lab fees.
4. Convince the administration how important the station is to the college by becomming an important part of campus life. How? By doing such things as covering campus news events and lectures, airing a campus community calendar, carrying games, Djing campus events, offering internships, airing programs aimed at assisting the school in recruitment, etc.

Even if you are not looking for funding #4 is very important because in most situations the school holds the station's license and the students are there at the whim of the administration.

As to your second question: The best way to get equipment donations from commercial stations is to get to know their cheif engineer. If you have a licensed station at your campus your contract engineer probably knows the other engineers in the area. Be aware of which stations are moving or upgrading and don't forget TV stations which also use a lot of audio gear. Attending the meetings of the local Society of Broadcast Engineers chapter is also a good way to get to know people. Most are more than happy to have non-members attend, especially if they are associated with a college station.

Regarding your last question: You can be successful at soliciting money from the public only if you programming is relevant and valuable to the public. This is why so many college stations have a wide variety of programming as opposed to a single, commercial-clone format. People will be more likely to donate to a station that has unique and alternative programming if the programming is presented well.