KRCU RAISES $20,000 IN FUND DRIVE

Public radio station KRCU more than doubled its membership and raised $20,000 in the process during its first weeklong fund-raising campaign.

Although the goal for the subscription campaign was 500, KRCU operations director Greg Petrowich said he was "really pleased" with the results. KRCU now has more than 335 members.

"Since this was the first drive, there was no way to gauge how many new members we could attract," Petrowich said Friday afternoon. The drive was scheduled to end Friday night.

"We've got $20,000 and 186 more members than we had before we started the drive, so we're happy," he said.

Petrowich said one of the more positive aspects of the drive was the effect well-known community figures had on the audience.

"These people have many friends in the community," Petrowich said. "I think once their friends started to listen in and they told others, we were headed for a successful campaign."

The success of the first-ever membership drive could pave the way for more.

"We're thinking about holding one in the winter and another in the spring each year," he said. "Of course, those who gave this time might not the next time. So we're going to have to try and reach a whole new audience."

Petrowich said public radio is still fairly new to this area. It has only been here four or five years.

"I think the more the word gets out and people start listening to our station, our chances to add members will increase," he said.

Memberships are available at $25 for fixed-income and student listeners and $40 for others. Memberships are also available at $60 for "friend" all the way to $500 for "capital investor."