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Published on Friday, 11 March 2011 14:06
Chicago Public Media's WBEZ-FM just wrapped up their 2011 Spring Pledge Drive yesterday and the results were much better than expected. The public radio station achieved more donations and more revenue than their goals.
WBEZ-FM announced today that over the course of the eight-day pledge drive that just ended, they secured 9,198 donations, with total revenue of $1,121,381. The goals they were hoping to achieve were 9,000 donations and $1 million in revenue.
The station noted that 44% of the donors in this Spring Pledge Drive were new members to the station -- a number about double what it typically is. 38% of all donors joined WBEZ's High Fidelity monthly program, and more than half of those were new members. According to WBEZ, the station has almost 60,000 active donors, which are donors who have given money to the station in the last 14 months. Half of those are members of the High Fidelity program.
A certain segment of American politicians are looking to cut all funding for public radio and similar programs, but Chicagoans are continuing to show up strong to keep local public radio healthy and financially secure.
Torey Malatia, CEO of Chicago Public Media said today: "The Chicago region's support during this drive was extraordinarily strong and reassuring in the face of uncertain funding from the government and other sources. I think that strong support comes from staying as close as possible to the Chicago area community all through our history. WBEZ was created here, became an independent non-profit here, and has found its inspiration and guidance here in the great city we serve."
Annually, WBEZ-FM holds three separate pledge drives. The next pledge drive is scheduled to start in June of this year.
Chicago Public Media owns and operates both WBEZ-FM 91.5 FM and WBEW-FM 89.5 (aka Vocalo). It also produces or co-produces award-winning programming that is heard nationwide, including "This American Life," "Sound Opinions," "Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me!" and "Worldview."
