Fall fund drive produces record totals for WVTF
The drive brought in more than $580,000 to help the network of public radio stations operated by Virginia Tech with operational costs and programming.
WVTF, a network of public radio stations operated by Virginia Tech, held its annual weeklong fall fund drive in mid-September and finished with record-breaking numbers.
The station, which services mostly Southwest and central Virginia, raised approximately $580,000, easily surpassing the goal of $500,000, according to Roger Duvall, the general manager of WVTF Public Radio and Radio IQ.
“Obviously, we’re pretty happy about that,” Duvall said.
The station’s annual fund drives carry more importance after Congress’ summer rollback of federal funding for public media. Duvall attributed the increase in fundraising numbers to supporters stepping forward to back the station’s mission.
“A lot of times in the past, people have said, ‘Well, my tax money goes to support public broadcasting,’” Duvall said. “Well, for the time being, it doesn’t, and there are just enough of those people that appreciate what we’re doing in the community and what we want to do in the community to say, ‘OK, well, my tax money no longer supports this, so I’m going to have to step up and support it if I want it to continue.’”
According to Duvall, approximately 2,000 people made contributions during the drive and of those, roughly 650 were first-time donors – a record. This past spring’s drive resulted in 400 first-time contributors.
First-time contributors are vital to an organization that relies on fundraising because they help provide a future sustainable donor base and offer an opportunity to become future major donors.
“While certainly we appreciate renewing people, the key to an on-air fund drive is to get folks who are listening and haven’t yet given to give something so that we can stay in contact with them,” Duvall said. “It’s a way to get contact information for these people.
“The dollar goal was great and nice to hit, but we were very pleased that we were able to recruit as many new, first-time givers as we did.”
The funds will go toward operational costs and programming, but the total wasn’t enough to make up for the loss of federal funding. There will be continued emphasis on raising additional funds, starting with the 2025 Winter Year-End Fund Drive in December. As the news cycle shifts away from the topic of lost federal funding for public broadcasting, there could be less awareness and thus a potential slowdown in giving, but Duvall and his staff are planning and making contingencies.
Duvall also announced that station staff will be seeking input in the coming weeks from donors and listeners on programming.
“We’re going to ask for folks to sound off on what programs they feel are essential because we're going to look at our program schedule, program by program, hour by hour, to see which programs are the most in demand, the most listened to,” he said. “We’re not necessarily looking to cut programs, but we may be reenvisioning our program schedule starting in January, so we’re going to be asking folks for their feedback on that. What do they consider essential? The core programs are going to stay the same … but some of the weekend programs, some of the hourly programs, may be shuffled a little bit.”
