WYSO exceeds fundrasing goal

Public radio station WYSO in Yellow Springs exceeded their fundraising goal during the on-air portion of their spring fund drive.

In a drive shortened from nine days to seven, the station received $215,000 in pledges.

More than a thousand individuals made pledges and more third of those, 425 people, were new members.

“We are happy , tired and very grateful today,” general manager Neenah Ellis said on Monday morning, after the drive ended at five pm Sunday, March 6.

“Thank you so much to all the volunteers who gave their time to answer phones, and to the community groups and non-profits and individuals who offered matching grants. We had more than $29,000 in matching grant money.”

Ellis believes that a number of factors converged to make the drive so successful.

“Being able to offer tickets to the Ira Glass performance this May was a huge factor,” says Ellis. “ Plus, our new Ten Percent Campaign to broaden the base of our membership got the message out about the importance of becoming new member. The threats to federal funding helped people realize that a public radio station is strongest when it is well-supported in the community. And here at WYSO we are trying to be responsive to our listeners desire to make our drive shorter and more efficient. All those factors came together in a powerful way. Finally, the staff and on-air volunteers did a super great job keeping the energy up and the messages positive.”