Welcome to my new-ish resurrected blog. I did this many years ago, but like everything else when schedules get busy, it went by the wayside.
One of my goals for 2025 is to bring this blog back as a way to communicate to you – our valued listeners and members. So, grab a cup of coffee and hang with me a bit, as I take time to share Jazz90.1 happenings and other tidbits that I hope that you find interesting.
March 2025 Blog Post
The Dollars and……Sense? – Part Two
It’s no secret that Jazz90.1 gets by financially by “the skin of our teeth.” It has been this way since day one, and we’ve gotten quite good at stretching a penny. As retired morning host Joëlle VanBuren used to say, “we use both sides of the paper here!”
Jazz90.1 WGMC-FM is funded almost exclusively by listeners and business sponsors. Each year, we must fundraise our roughly $275,000 budget – and that’s no easy task. We hold two pledge drives each year, and we solicit business donations, too. From there, we host numerous fundraising events in hopes of bringing in the remaining dollars needed for us to end the year in the black.
One dollar at a time.
Fun fact – most public radio and TV stations hold between 4-6 pledge drives per year. Yikes! That sounds like torture!
Occasionally – we have to hold “emergency” pledge drives in June if we’re coming up short. The goal is to always to end the year in the black – never creating a deficit.
Speaking of deficits – many years ago, we were surprised to learn that the station had a six figure deficit that was discovered by auditors from previous years, under different administration. We immediately went to work to pay that back as quickly as we could – and we did – in half the time it was originally expected. Phew. That was a stressful time.
But, let’s continue.
We’re often asked about grants, as those are significant funding sources for non-profit organizations. Quite frankly – many non-profits would have to close their doors if those grant dollars stopped flowing.
Sadly, that remains a real possibility for many orgs who rely on those dollars, as grant funding is being used as a political football.
Unfortunately – and for a variety of reasons – Jazz90.1 does not qualify for most of these grant opportunities that other public TV and radio entities do.
I discussed in my February blog post about why we don’t, and the efforts we have made to try to become qualified. Most often, grant dollars are tied to specific programs. “Want to build a new wing on your building? Cool. Here’s a grant.” “Want to create a fancy new program? Cool. Here’s a grant!”
However, most grants are not for general operating purposes. We don’t have enough staff to do what we need to do now, so creating any new programs isn’t really on our “can do” list at the moment.
Last month, I discussed the latest chatter surrounding funding of National Public Radio, PBS and The Corporation For Public Broadcasting. You can read that post here.
These orgs receive a large portion of their funding from your and my tax dollars through State and Federal agencies. With those dollars potentially in limbo – many public and community radio and television stations are panicking.
So, how does our funding at Jazz90.1 break down? The chart below shows where our dollars go annually – with the biggest “chunk of the pie” being our hard working core full and part time staff.
Now, how about our revenue? This may surprise you.
As the chart below shows, the bulk of our dollars are raised through individual donations. Yep! You and me. Here are the revenue numbers for our 2023-24 budget year.
As you can see – listeners are the true lifeblood of what we do at Jazz90.1. If we didn’t have that support – there is literally no way that we could continue.
Yes, we explore grant opportunities constantly and do qualify for some, but they in no way match the power and importance of our listener contributions. We are so thankful for the grants that we do receive from sources like The Rochester Area Community Foundation, Dr. Dawn Lipson and The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation. They believe in the importance of this station in our community.
As we head into our spring pledge drive this month, and as we look down the barrel at the end of another fiscal year, we ask that you keep this in mind as you decide if you’ll support Jazz90.1.
We hope that you understand that YOUR dollars are what keep us afloat, and we’ll always continue to stretch those pennies (and write on both sides of the paper!)