FINANCING COMMUNITY RADIO

Community Radio Stations:
are established as organisations, which are not run with a view to profit and ensure their independence by being financed from a variety of sources
Community Radio Charter for Europe. Point 7.

Near 90fmis a not-for-profit station. Commercial radio makes programmes in order to make money. We make money in order to make programmes.

This station is owned by a democratic, co-operative society and run by a voluntary Committee of Management. A public auditor audits all our finances each year and the information is publicly available.

This station was asked to fund itself from a mix of advertising, sponsorship and community fundraising. We have decided to forego full-blooded advertising, as we feel that this is incompatible with community programming.

We are experimenting with a form of commercial funding from local business termed Sponsorship Announcements. These return advertising to its original meaning of ‘notification’ and are a more candid model which is defined as follows:

Sponsorship Announcements contain the following information:
"The name of Sponsor, the business address and general description of the types of services or products that the Sponsor provides. These statements must not contain references to convenience, durability or desirability, or contain other comparative or competitive references. They can contain information about the Sponsors products, including price, name and brand name of the product."

We are encouraging this approach, as they are a more honest way to inform our listeners about local services available through local businesses, which are supporting our community station. Where possible, you should also seek to support our Sponsors.

Such ‘Sponsorship Spots’ are produced in-house by volunteers. They are broadcast on a bed of music and should be delivered in a neutral manner. See if you can spot the difference between them and ads on other radio stations.

SOCIAL FUNDING
The relationship between our station and its funders is as important as the finance. We will therefore develop the following funding strategy.

PUBLIC
Statutory bodies will be encouraged to provide core funding for our broad community development remit, also to provide programme-related grants and to contract us to deliver training services to eligible recipients.

COMMUNITY
We will develop our community/listenership support by encouraging individuals and community organisations to support our various fundraising events.

PRIVATE
We will seek local business Sponsorship, which is compatible with the Community Radio Charter. Caring organisations will also be encouraged to fund relevant projects. e.g. training in programme making for persons in their particular sector.

Such an approach seeks to develop a ‘Social Partnership’ between N.E.A.R. fm and its funders who understand and support our broad community development aims.

We also seek to finance our station from community events, such as pub quizzes and auctions and from grant aid from public and private bodies in relation to specific community development programmes and training projects.

All monies received go back into developing and promoting our station. We expect all volunteers, where possible, to support our community fundraising efforts.

prev — next