WNYC raises nearly $63 million in capital campaign
New York’s WNYC Radio crossed the finish line of its four-year capital campaign this month, having raised $62.9 million—about 9 percent more than its original $57.5 million goal.
Most of the money — about $45 million — backed the station’s move into a new all-digital broadcast facility in lower Manhattan last year. The remainder supports new programming initiatives, including the national morning news program The Takeaway. The campaign included two record-setting gifts of $6 million each — the largest ever to a public radio station, according to WNYC—from the Jerome L. Greene Foundation and the Kaplen Foundation. The street-level broadcast and performance studio in WNYC’s new building has been named the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, or "the Greene Space." The station will celebrate the studio’s opening with a 10-day festival starting April 28.
Every member of the WNYC Board and more than 8,000 listeners contributed to the campaign. Big gifts included $4 million each from the Ford Foundation and the state, and $10.8 million from the City of New York — the self-same governmental entity that charged the nonprofit $20 million for its municipal stations a dozen years ago. A $2.5 million challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation encouraged donors to help complete the campaign.
“The challenge of this campaign was to make sure our donors understood why WNYC wasn’t just another radio station but an influential cultural organization with the potential to take its place among a handful of important institutions in New York City,” said Alexander Kaplen, campaign chair and WNYC trustee.
Web page posted Feb. 16, 2009
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