Wisconsin Public Radio – grouchyfarmer

I’m a huge fan of Wisconsin Public Radio. I’ve been listening to it since, well, almost my whole life, really. I first learned about it in grade back in the early 1960s when the nuns would occasionally put on some educational program for us to listen to. It is one of the finest news, information, music and entertainment services out there, and there really isn’t anything else like it left on radio any longer. WPR has been on the air 100 years now. It is widely considered to be the first broadcast radio service in the country.

Their pledge drive is coming up next week. A lot of people are under the impression that WPR and other public radio services are funded by taxes. While they get some money from the taxpayers, most of their funding comes from grants, corporate donations, and donations from people like you and me.

This is the second year I’ll be doing a challenge grant on one of WPR’s shows as part of the 9XM leadership circle. This year it’s the Kathleen Dunn show at 1 PM on May 2. If you call in around that time and pledge to make a donation, I’ll match it up to maximum limit. So if you listen to WPR and want to make a contribution, tune in between 1 and 2 PM on May 2 and take advantage of the challenge grant.

Wisconsin Public Radio’s pledge drive is coming up May 2 – 5. I’m a big fan of WPR and it’s news, entertainment and music programming, and if you listen to WPR I am going to encourage you to kick in a few bucks to help keep the service going. Contrary to what you may have heard, the majority of WPR funding comes not from the taxpayers, but from sponsors, foundations, and people like you and me who are willing to throw them some money to help them keep going.

In an effort to help convince people contribute, certain individuals, foundations and companies do something called a challenge grant during the drive. For every dollar a contributor pledges during a specific time slot, the challenge grant will contribute a dollar. So anyone who pledges during that time essentially doubles their contribution. I’m doing a challenge grant again this year, this time during the Kathleen Dunn Show. So if you listen to WPR and want to support the service, this is a good time to do it. Not only will you be supporting an excellent radio service, I’ll double your money up to a certain limit.

When, exactly? Not sure yet. They’re still doing scheduling and planning but they’re going to let me know when the challenge will take place and if there’s any interest here I’ll pass the info along when I get it.