Listening Post: the biggest leg

Bright leaves, crisp air, the sound of southbound geese, a little wood-smoke perfume–it must be time for the Fall Fundraiser. As usual, we’ve been busy around the station, holding strategy meetings, bringing in cartloads of thank-you gifts and shipping supplies, setting up the phone room and the pitch room, recording scripts, lubricating our jawbones, and getting ncpr.org ready for a generous crowd. Monday morning at 6 am, (God willin’ and the crick don’t rise) everything will be ready for take-off.

It’s an odd business model, to give a service away, then later to ask for voluntary contributions to keep the service going, but it’s a model that has kept NCPR healthy and growing (and grateful) all these years. Most countries do it very differently, extracting the full cost of public media directly from taxpayers, or via user fees on telecommunications devices. Though it may be less efficient, I prefer our three-legged approach to sustainability—a mix of individual, private and public support.

A little less than 15% of NCPR revenue comes from you as federal taxpayers, via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Another 4% comes from the taxpayers of New York State. We also get substantial support from local business underwriting, as well as from various foundations and institutions. But the largest single piece of our revenue “pie” comes from voluntary contributions from generous listeners and supporters. That makes this upcoming week a big one for us.

And I’m pumped. Early renewal donors (bonus thanks to you) are running strong. NCPR news and entertainment offerings are more solid than ever. Our new media services are growing in scope, reach and quality. So we have good reason for optimism. We’ll find out next week. You can give NCPR a leg up right now, by making a donation before the drive begins:

http://secure.publicbroadcasting.net/ncpr/pledge.pledgemain

Why wait until we wear you down?

Tags: listeningpost