KMSU spring pledge drive goes live this week
Show your support of MNSU’s radio station, “The Maverick”
Spring has sprung, and with it comes another pledge drive for KMSU-FM.
This semester, the station is hoping to raise $35,000 for more operational costs, such as the salary for “Shyboy” Tim Lind, the co-host of the Shuffle Function morning show (which airs from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. every weekday), and equipment and programming such as the World Café with David Dye, which airs on the station from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. every Monday through Friday.
The pledge drive starts Wednesday, April 20 and runs until Friday, April 29 or until the ultimate goal of $35,000 is reached.
The main reason why they’re doing this pledge drive is to essentially keep the station on the air and other reasons as well.
“Broken parts fixed, and things of that nature, and also to grow as a station. In tune with the times, and we can grow with the community,” Shyboy said.
KMSU and KMSK are listener-supported public radio stations (a part of the AMPERS family of stations across Minnesota), and as such their budget is limited as they serve the Mankato and Austin areas.
A significant portion of their revenue comes from listener support, and that’s why, twice a year, they turn to the listeners and contribute their hard-earned money into a public radio station that has programming such as the student show Radio a La Carte (airs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday), Minnesota Morning with Karen Wright (airs from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.) and Southern Minnesota Midday hosted by station manager Jim “Gully” Gullickson (airs 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. every Monday and Thursday).
Karen Wright, the operations director at KMSU, said she hopes listeners can rally support.
“We hope they believe in what they’re hearing because we aim to please. We love to hear from them, and their support means a lot; it means they’re enjoying what they’re hearing,” Wright said.
Items at certain dollar levels include a KMSU hat (at the $25 level), a brand-new KMSU shirt or Shuffle Function t-shirt (at the $50 level), or a World Café CD or day sponsorship – where the public can send $100 and direct the hosts to play a certain thing all day long.
A big highlight of the spring version of the pledge drive compared to the fall version is that the Shuffle Function radio program does a 24-hour marathon. Dubbed “The Shuffle Function 24-Hour Pledge Drive A Go-Go,” both hosts Shelley Pierce and Shyboy stay up for an entire day and plan out each hour they’re on the air.
According to Shyboy, this will entail:
“Surviving only on the basic human needs of caffeine, rock and roll and the generosity of our listeners to help keep KMSU on the air. We have a lot of stuff planned, we have all kinds of music from all over the spectrum. It’s a lot of fun, and really challenging. We never know – is this the year we fall asleep?” Shyboy said.
Students are important part of the station as well, doing the variety show Radio a La Carte and the Southern Minnesota News Project. Both Wright and Shyboy agree that notion.
“A media voice for the university. We get the university’s message across the airwaves, both online as well as on the radio dial,” Shyboy said.
“You know, you get something unique that you hear here something that you won’t hear anywhere else. So students are very entrepreneurial, and kind of hip. We try to give them content that they will enjoy and they can be like the cool kids on the block,” Wright said.
You can donate by calling the station at 507-389-5678, or at 1-800-456-7810. You can also donate online at KMSU.org.
Happy pledging!
