KUT Wraps Up Successful Spring Membership Drive
AUSTIN, Texas—March 1, 2012—KUT 90.5, community supported public radio, concluded its spring membership drive today by raising more than $810,000 to support local and national news, and uniquely Austin music programming.
More than 5,500 individuals and businesses contributed to the semi-annual membership drive, which began Feb. 21 and concluded at 9 a.m. yesterday.
Sustaining membership, in which members make continuous monthly gifts via credit card, continues to be a popular method for supporting KUT with 33 percent of support coming from new sustaining members.
Community leaders and longtime KUT supporters joined KUT staff in on-air fundraising including: Ben Bentzin, McCombs School of Business; Rabbi Neil Blumofe, Congregation Agudas Achim; Elizabeth Christian, Elizabeth Christian and Associates; Jim Cousar, Thompson and Knight, LLP; Sandy Dochen, IBM; Rodney Gibbs, Ricochet Labs; Kathleen Panoff, Texas Performing Arts; Evan Smith, The Texas Tribune; Mary Gordon Spence, speaker; and Bruce Todd, Bruce Todd Public Affairs.
A limited edition “KUT Live Vol. 12″ CD was the signature gift this year. The 18-track CD features KUT Studio 1A performances from Adele, Bahamas, Black Red Black, Deer Tick, Dana Falconberry, Craig Finn, The Fling, Robyn Hitchcock, Jolie Holland, Ha Ha Tonka, Sarah Jarosz, The Jayhawks, Nick Lowe, Not in the Face, Carrie Rodriguez and Bill Frisell, Tedeschi/Trucks Band, The War on Drugs and Dale Watson.
As with each membership drive, volunteers and the community at large played a significant role in the success of the spring membership drive. More than 250 volunteers, including employees from Convio, Dell, Network In Austin, Tapestry Singers and United Way answered phones in the KUT pledge room. More than 30 local restaurants donated food and beverages for those volunteers.
KUT depends on individuals and businesses for 87 percent of its annual operating budget. One hundred percent of those contributions are used for direct programming and broadcasting expenses, such as maintaining a news bureau at the state capitol, reporting on Central Texas news and paying for programming such as “Morning Edition,” “This American Life,” “Fresh Air,” “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me” and “A Prairie Home Companion.”
About KUT
For more than 50 years, KUT 90.5, listener-supported public radio from Austin, Texas, has striven to be the most trusted radio source for news and music in Central Texas. A founding member of NPR, KUT established a news department in 2002. Since then, KUT News has won more than 100 state, national and international awards for journalistic excellence. KUT is nationally known for playing a unique blend of handpicked, homegrown and uniquely Austin music. In summer 2012, KUT will complete the KUT Public Broadcast Center, which will demonstrate KUT’s work from the inside out, showcasing KUT as one of the most creative, exciting and community-focused public media organizations in the world.
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Contact:
Erin Geisler
(512) 475-8071
