ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250058
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
THE PUBLIC STATION began soliciting donations for an endowment about two
years ago to guard against future budget cuts by Congress.
WVTF, the Virginia Tech-owned public radio station based in Roanoke, on
Thursday hit a fund-raising milestone. An endowment fund - intended to guard
against federal budget cuts that could put the station out of business -
reached $500,000.
The station began soliciting donations for an endowment about two years ago and did not expect money to come in as fast as it has.
"We are certainly doing surprisingly well with it," said Steve Mills, general manager. "Maybe we underestimated the generosity of people around here."
He also attributed the campaign's progress to the economy and a small growth in the station's audience, now estimated at 125,000 people who listen at least weekly. The 23-year-old station, with 12 full-time and seven part-time employees, can be heard in an area from Harrisonburg to Richmond to Greensboro, N.C., to Bluefield, W.Va. It airs a mix of National Public Radio news and programming, local news and talk, and music.
The staff set an informal goal of $3 million for the endowment. The fund's interest is being reinvested, but the station sees the interest as an ultimate source of back-up operating money to make up any shortfall in federal support.
The endowment has received one large gift, a land donation worth $62,000 that has been counted in the $500,000 total, and a future commitment worth $135,000, Mills said. Mills said he could not release the donors' names.
There are 334 federally supported public radio stations in the United States. Fewer than half have endowments, said Vicki Draper, director of member services at The Development Exchange, a nonprofit consulting firm in Arlington that helps radio stations raise money.
The Roanoke station this year received $155,000, or about 14 percent, of its $1.1 million budget from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Federal funds have dropped 9 percent per year for two years. The federal grant is the station's second-largest source, behind listener contributions, budgeted at $505,000.
Republican leaders talked of cutting federal support for public radio in 1994, when their party gained control of Congress. Mills said talk died down in about six months.
Congress still wants "to get public broadcasting off public support, but they're looking at establishing some kind of trust," Mills said.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB