The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Must raise an additional $75,000 this year
Every year, KBUT raises about $200,000 through avenues such as its on-air pledge drives, grants, events, and online donations—an effort that, until recently, qualified the radio station for additional funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPR). CPR funding accounts for as much as a third of the station’s budget, but the ticket to entry just got more expensive and KBUT is at risk of losing that support.
“The potential loss of funds is not due to insufficiency on our part,” said Eileen Hughes, general manager at KBUT. “It’s just that we have new mandates or criteria to continue receiving funding.”
In order to qualify for CPR funding, KBUT will need to raise an additional $75,000 in 2015, and starting in 2016, an additional $100,000 every year. That’s $300,000 of fundraising every year. And as far as Hughes is concerned, it’s not an option to opt out of CPR funding.
“Without CPR, we will lose $114,000, or more than a third of our budget,” said Hughes. “If we don’t raise this money, and if we shrink to a $200,000 budget, we’re going to be a shadow of our former self.”
If the funding went away, Hughes foresees significant cuts in programming, like the BBC and Prairie Home Companion. So KBUT staff and its board of directors are looking for new ways to raise the funds. Board president Jeff Scott says the key will be finding ways to do that and remain conscious of how much the community already gives to KBUT.
“We want to be extremely conscious of that,” he said. “KBUT is a very functional business and provides so much service to our community. But with the community that we reach, we need to take into consideration what the people are already giving to KBUT and to the other nonprofits in this valley.”
The challenge is to figure out the best strategy for doing that. According to Hughes, everything is on the table for now, including a possible third pledge drive (each drive raises $42,000), but the board would like to find ways to raise funds without impacting programming. They’re looking at increasing revenues through events, the station’s vehicle donation program, connecting with donors who can give larger donations, and online campaigns like Colorado Gives Day on Tuesday, December 9, a statewide day of giving designed to increase philanthropy in Colorado.
While the amount of fundraising is a bit daunting, Hughes believes that KBUT would benefit from and needs the larger budget. “To me it opens up the possibilities of where we should be. For instance, it would give us more funding to improve our local news service, to perhaps have a call-in talk show on a weekly basis, and to purchase remote equipment so we can be on the scene of cultural, civic and athletic events,” Hughes said.
Hughes is hoping that KBUT listeners and supporters will agree. To donate to KBUT through Colorado Gives Day, visit www.kbut.org on or before Tuesday, December 9.
