Public Broadcasting seeks donations
CMU Public Broadcasting is calling on the public to pick up a phone and donate to the service many people enjoy.
Public Broadcasting is hosting a fund raiser 24-hours a day through Sunday to help cover operating costs, said Thomas Hunt, director of radio.
"We ask listeners to call in pledges for financial support," he said.
Hunt said the station has a goal of $120,000 to $150,000. As of 8:45 p.m. Tuesday night, the station had raised $59,284 with 786 calls. The fund raiser began Thursday.
The last fundraiser which took place last October raised $130,000, Hunt said.
This time last year, public broadcasting raised a total of $265,792 on 2,845 calls. In spring 1998, CMU's public broadcasting brougt in $239,285 on a total of 2,729 pledges.
Hunt said the amount the station will receive depends on the callers.
"It depends on the donations we get and the number of renewals we get," he said.
The average donation has been around $75, Hunt said. Callers will usually donate anywhere from $25 to $1,000.
"We're on track for last year," he said. "Every fund raiser kind of takes on its own life. I'm very confident that this will be a successful fundraiser."
Thirty volunteers as well as station staff have helped out with the fund raiser, said JoAnne Boulier, fund-raising coordinator.
This type of fund raiser is hosted twice a year, Hunt said. Usually, fund raising covers 54 percent of the budget. Fifteen percent comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and 20 percent from CMU. The remainder comes from miscellaneous sources.
CMU public radio includes 89.5 FM Mount Pleasant, 90.1 FM Bay City, 95.7 FM Oscoda, 91.7 FM Alpena, 103.9 FM Harbor Springs and 98.3 FM Sault Ste. Marie.
CMU public television includes WCMU Channel 14 Mount Pleasant, WCMV Channel 27 Cadillac, WCMW Channel 21 Manistee, W46AD Channel 46 Traverse City, W69AV Channel 69 Leland and WCML Channel 6 Alpena.
Anyone wishing to donate can call 774-3300.
