Round Up: “Next Steps…”

Thanks to everyone who has reached out in the wake of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding being eliminated through the Rescission Act of 2025. Big thanks to those of you who have increased your giving or joined the Calendar Club! Lee Giamona, a long-time KWMR supporter, threw out an idea about asking everyone to increase their giving by 25%. It’s a good idea.

Let me tell you why Lee’s idea is a good one. After this suggestion, I sat down and wrote a budget for next year that was as lean as I could make it. We are no strangers to tightening our belts here at KWMR. When I started back in 2010, KWMR was going through some rough waters. And look at where we were right before this cut.

The draft budget takes into consideration a few key things. Alyssa Tanner will no longer be working at KWMR starting on August 1, 2025. This parting is more than amicable. Alyssa lives 2,999 miles away and has for two years while she was doing a great job for KWMR. It’s the right time for Alyssa, and it’s the right time for KMWR.

We also will no longer be required to do a full financial audit (required by CPB), and while I will miss the audit (sort of), we will remain transparent with our finances and keep up the practices set in place. We will also be cutting out some of our produced programming, so you may see some programming changes over the next several months.

I will continue to look at ways to save money, but the draft budget I wrote puts us at a deficit for next year around $70,000. Ouch you say, yes, I say ouch, too. So, taking Lee’s idea even further, I took all of the donations from individuals just like YOU from fiscal year 2023/2024 and multiplied them by 25%. Guess what that number came out to? Yup, $70,000, give or take.

While these cuts as a result of DOGE’s work are big news now, they will likely not be big news this winter or even next spring. KWMR is in this for the long-game. We know you want to help now, and that is great, but we can’t cannibalize our other fundraising, or we will be in worse shape down the road.

This is not a highly populated area, so every donation counts. If you are reading this and have not given, even a little bit, then now is the time to do so. If you already give, and can afford to up your ante with KWMR, now is the time to do it. If you want to talk to your friends about why you give to KWMR, and ask them to do the same, especially if they have not done so before, now is the time to do that.

If you are a business or nonprofit and would like to be Underwriters of KWMR, now is the time to join up. Our community pricing (just $25/month for nonprofits and $50/month for businesses!) is the best deal around.

I want to talk to you if you have ideas like Lee Giammona had. How exciting it will be when KWMR is back to full strength on the power of COMMUNITY only! It’s always been a risk, you can read about it in our audited financials, that getting 26% of a budget from one source is risky. Well, we are now facing the reality of that risk.

Don’t we want to be completely resilient and self-sufficient with our local media? YES! I mean, HELL YES!! This means we all need to step up.

So let’s do this. There are many ways to contribute. Become a sustaining donor, make a new one-time donation, donate your vehicle, become an underwriter, contribute your Required Minimum Distribution, donate stock, there are lots of ways to do it.

I don’t plan to leave any stones unturned as I assume the role of Development Director along with my other two hats.

Please join me in supporting KWMR for the long haul.

Amanda Eichstaedt
Station Manager and Executive Director

p.s.  If you missed my talk with Dewey Livingston about his new book, we aired it Monday morning on Turning Pages. Click here to listen. 

p.p.s. Lee made us a wonderful video explaining her idea! Check it out below!

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