Fundraising reminder for LPFM, FCC licensed station

[radiomike]

From the NFCB:

If you want to raise money for the Red Cross or another relief organization, and you are interrupting your regular programming to do it, you have to get a waiver from the FCC. The same is true if you want to raise money for any enitity. (The FCC granted waivers to public stations after September 11 and funds were raised by them).

Stations are permitted to broadcast brief announcements that directly or indirectly raise funds for other organizations, if fundraising announcements occur at the beginning or end of a program, during an "intermission," or at natural breaks in the program. But if you want to raise funds for the Red Cross, for example, as part of your own fall fundraiser; or if you want to do a special fundraiser for hurricane relief, you will need to get a waiver.

NFCB is working with a couple of other organizations to try and make the process of applying for a waiver a bit easier, by coming up with a boilerplate waiver application that you can amend to your own specifications. Unfortunately, every station has to file its own petition-NFCB cannot do that for you.

If you don't want to wait, you should send a letter to the Media Bureau at the FCC. Tell them who you are; tell them who you want to raise funds for; the dates you want to do it; if it will be part of your regular fall fundraiser mention that (and then be sure you have a system in place to keep track of money raised for you and money raised for whomever).

More information as it becomes available.

 

[radiomike]

Sample Waiver and the FCC response

Just received this...I am deleting some of the ID info:

Here's what you have to do to get a waiver-it's easy and the FCC is dealing with them immediately.

Send an email to [email protected].

This is a sample that was just sent in to give you an idea of what you need to say. Just stick in your own particulars. Following it is the FCC's reply. You do not have to have a law firm file this, but it should be by a trustee or legal representative of the licensee that can legally represent the station, such as the station manager:
-----

On behalf of our client, <Name of Licensee>, licensee of noncommercial educational radio station <Radio Call letters>, <City, State> ("WXXX"), we respectfully request a waiver of FCC policies to permit WXXX to broadcast a fundraising program to benefit the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts.

The program is scheduled to air September 17, 2005. It will be a
special fundraising show produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York
City. The event will be called "Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Concert
to Benefit the Victims of Hurricane Katrina" and will run from approximately 8:00 p.m until midnight. The live broadcast will feature Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis and many other special guest artists and celebrities who will perform and solicit funds
for the benefit of the victims of the hurricane. Jazz at Lincoln Center will direct interested donors to call a designated telephone call center to make donations.

The FCC has a policy prohibiting noncommercial educational stations from engaging in on-air fundraising activities on behalf of any entity other than the station itself, where such activities alter or suspend regular programming. See Commission Policy Concerning the Noncommercial Nature of Educational Broadcast Stations, 90 FCC2d 895, 907 (1982). However, we note that, on several prior occasions involving disasters of particular uniqueness or magnitude - the fire at Wolf Trap, flooding in West Virginia and the Midwest, the Northern California earthquake, and Hurricane Andrew, for example -- the FCC has seen fit to waive its policies for the purpose of alleviating suffering in the affected areas.

New Orleans has a storied jazz history. It is one of America's greatest jazz cities. Because of that history and tradition, and because of WXXX's special commitment to jazz programming, WXXX would be very proud to be involved in this particular fundraising program.

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina has been reported to be the worst natural disaster in our nation's history, and the relief effort will, as a consequence, be the longest and costliest ever. WXXX believes that it can, by broadcasting the contemplated fundraising program, provide material assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina to raise funds for their relief.

For these reasons, we urge that the contemplated fundraising program would be in the public interest, and that a waiver of the Commission's policy is therefore appropriate.

If there is any other information we can provide to assist the Commission in this matter, we'd be pleased to do so. Please contact undersigned counsel for WXXX.

Respectfully submitted,
Lawyer
Law Firm
Address
Phone
Email



The FCC response:


This is with reference to a request by <Licensee>., licensee of noncommercial educational radio station WXXX, City, State, for waiver of the Commission's rules to permit WXXX to broadcast a fundraising program to benefit the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts.

The program will be a special fundraising show produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City and is scheduled to air September on 17,
2005. The event will be called "Higher Ground Hurricane Relief
Concert to Benefit the Victims of Hurricane Katrina" and will run from approximately 8:00 p.m until midnight. The live broadcast will feature Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis and many other special guest artists and celebrities who will perform and solicit funds
for the benefit of the victims of the hurricane. Jazz at Lincoln
Center will direct interested donors to call a designated telephone call center to make donations.

Due to the extraordinary nature of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and the limited duration of the proposed programming, the Commission concludes that the public interest would be served by grant of the requested waiver. The requested waiver IS HEREBY GRANTED.