KUAF Holds Second Winter On-Air Fundraiser

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KUAF General Manager, Rick Stockdell, makes the case for listener support on the air during on of KUAF's on-air fundraisers

For the second year in a row, KUAF 91.3 FM, the local NPR affiliate, will host a short winter on-air fundraiser, beginning Tuesday, Dec. 9, through Friday, Dec. 12. This is the second winter on-air fundraiser the station has held. Last year's winter fundraiser was also four days and raised $65,000 of the $66,000 goal.

KUAF is looking to raise $75,000 during this year's winter fundraiser. As was the case last year, a cut in federal funding means the station must raise more money from it's listening audience.

"The $66,000 in cuts we've had from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are permanent," said Rick Stockdell, KUAF's general manager. Last year, KUAF was re-categorized as a non-rural station for the first time in 30 years. "This change means we receive less funding from CPB and have to raise more from our listeners," said Stockdell.

Listener support provides roughly 70 percent of KUAF's $1.1 million budget.

"Along with the $66,000 we've lost in federal funding, we've also purchased a back-up transimitter this year. It's a major purchase," said Leigh Wood, KUAF's membership director. "The cost of the backup transmitter has been spread over the three fundraisers we have annually. This is money that is needed to meet our current operating costs."

The four-day fundraiser kicks off today, Dec. 9, at 6 a.m. and will continue through Friday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m.

KUAF is a listener-supported service of the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and School of Arts and Sciences. The station has more than 3,300 annual donors and receives nearly 70 percent of its annual funding from membership and underwriting. It reaches a weekly audience of 60,000 listeners throughout Northwest Arkansas, southern Missouri, eastern Oklahoma and the River Valley.