Behind the Scenes: Fundraising at a Classical Station

This is not going to be a compendium of fundraising ideas for classical stations, so if you’re looking for the foolproof idea that will make your fundraising SING during a recession, sorry.  I wanted to give non-radio types a look at what goes on behind the scenes.

It’s almost impossible for public classical stations to generate “earned income.”  Radio has always been free — like the internet — so you can’t really sell the product, unless you’re satellite radio and force people to buy a special receiver and pay a subscription fee.

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Classical stations, fundraising and the economy

A recent article on MSNBC.com examined how public radio stations are faring with fundraising in these unstable economic times. The article prominently features two classical stations, WDAV in Davidson, N.C., and WWFM in Trenton, N.J. As I mentioned the other day, WDAV has just restarted its on-air fundraising drive after putting it on hold.

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