September 16, 2024 - 3:31 pm

Summers End, Givings Beginnings

Dear friends and supporters of KBCS,

I want to start by expressing my deepest gratitude to each of you. Your unwavering support over the years has been instrumental in our recent accomplishments. For instance, your contributions have enabled us to launch our noon-hour educational programming featuring structured and fact-checked debates, which has been well-received by our listeners. We are deeply grateful for your generosity and the positive impact it has had on our programming. Your support is not just a financial contribution, but a validation of our mission and a testament to its importance. Together, we are working towards a shared goal of providing quality radio programming to our community, and we couldn’t have done it without you.

As the days grow shorter, the cool fall air becomes more invigorating, the trees begin to drop their leaves slowly, and the wild geese begin their annual migration, I want to take this opportunity to update you on some of our recent accomplishments here at KBCS and thank you for your generous support of our outstanding radio programming as we enter this most beautiful harvest season of giving and thankfulness.

Over the past several years, your financial and moral support has been the driving force behind KBCS’s exciting new chapter of growth and possibilities. Your contributions have not only allowed us to upgrade our aging infrastructure but also to fully embrace the advanced technology that defines the transformative digital age of radio broadcasting. Your support is not just integral to our success but also the reason we can continue growing and innovating. You are not just supporters but integral parts of our journey, and your contributions have been the catalyst for our growth and innovation. Your support has made you an integral part of our success story, and we couldn’t have done it without you.

Your financial support and other funding sources for KBCS have allowed us to build up a healthy contingency fund into our operating budget. This now allows us to hire additional full-time staff members who will be instrumental in creating more diverse and engaging programming. Your contributions are not just numbers on a balance sheet; they are the lifeblood of our operations. Donations from our loyal listeners and old friends across Puget Sound and beyond comprise over 85% of our yearly operating budget—the most significant and dependable portion of our funding. None of what we do would be possible without the support of our listeners like you. Your contributions are not just appreciated, but they are crucial to our continued success. We hope we can continue to count on your support in the future.

Our annual on-air KBCS fall fundraising campaign begins this Friday, September 20th. It is not just our most important fundraising campaign of the year but a testament to our value in your participation. We eagerly await your involvement, as it is crucial to our success. We can’t wait to celebrate our long friendship with you with special events and new KBCS-branded fall merchandise as a token of our appreciation at various giving levels of your support.

For all our new friends who have recently discovered this community radio gem on the radio, we look forward to a long and rewarding partnership as we continue our focus on building a stronger community by giving a broadcast voice to those who often struggle to be heard, celebrating each other’s cultures and traditions, while continuing to uphold the treasured heritage and culture of the beautiful Pacific Northwest that we are privileged to call home or, for others, our home away from home on the radio.

Thank you for your continued friendship and support of true democracy in action on the air here in the greater Puget Sound for over fifty years. Your past support has been invaluable, and we are deeply grateful for your ongoing commitment to our cause. We could not have come this far without you.

Dana Lee Buckingham,

KBCS General Manager and Executive Producer of News and Public Affairs Programming