Southeast Missouri State University's public radio station, KRCU-FM, completed its fall pledge drive Wednesday and got very close to its amended $40,000 on-air goal.
General manager Dan Woods said the Sept. 15 to 22 effort fell just $572 short.
Woods, a 1994 SEMO graduate who has led KRCU for 19 years, said the station hopes to raise a total of $55,000 before the end of the year, a figure representing more than 30% of the operation's budget.
"We're pretty confident we can get there through subsequent mailings to donors and if needed, we can run a short on-air pledge drive in December," he said.
"We're looking at a pet challenge for our next pledge drive in the spring of 2022, asking listeners to give a gift in honor of their dog or cat," Woods said.
"A lot of (National Public Radio) stations have done pet challenges and they've done well."
KRCU, a 24-hour per day 6,500-watt station at 90.9 FM, operates out of the Serena Building, 920 Academic Circle Drive, behind Academic Hall in Cape Girardeau.
Its signal is also heard on two repeater stations -- 20,000-watt KSEF 88.9 FM-HD in Farmington, Missouri, and 50,000-watt KDMC 88.7 FM in Ellsinore, Missouri.
KRCU's website says between the three stations, its programming reaches 350,000 people.
Those who want an opportunity to support KRCU may visit krcu.org/give.
Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:
For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.