By Emily GlazerThe Daily Northwestern
With microphones malfunctioning and record needles snapping in the WNUR recording studio, the on-campus radio station’s Phoneathon couldn’t have come at a better time.
The station raised a record $41,034 in its annual Phoneathon, exceeding its goal of $34,000. The event ended Feb. 15, but the station had reached its target amount by Feb 13.
“I was totally stoked – I couldn’t believe (we reached it so soon),” said Medill senior Anthony G. Walters, WNUR’s general manager.
The money will go toward equipment-related expenses, like new speakers and a server.
WNUR also receives about $40,000 annually from Northwestern.
The Phoneathon has been around since the early 1980s, and Walters said it raises more money each year.
Last year WNUR raised about $37,500 – about $4,000 more than the 2006 goal.
“We beat the pants off of the year before, which always feels good,” Walters said.
More than 200 WNUR participants took 3- to 4-hour phone shifts during this year’s events. Members said this is a particularly important year for the fundraiser.
“This is a key year because we’re in the process of moving to a new location in Louis Hall,” said Chris Wade, Phoneathon’s co-director and a Communication sophomore. “Everything that we find to buy, we must buy out of our budget.”
WNUR is moving to John J. Louis Hall next month because its current home, Annie May Swift Hall, is under construction.
To advertise the Phoneathon, WNUR faxed and mailed hundreds of press releases and reminded their listeners hourly, Walters said.
A total of 608 callers phoned in, including listeners from Canada, Australia, Japan and France, he said.
WNUR also offered incentives such as T-shirts, CDs and theater tickets to donors this year from sponsors such as record labels and publication houses.
Theron Humiston, a Music graduate student and producer of WNUR’s show “Classical and Beyond,” wrote an original composition for a supporter who donated $100 to WNUR during the classical radio show.
WNUR also gave away the chance to host “Airplay Show,” a show on WNUR that includes live performances. The donor will get to watch the performance in the studio, talk to the band and choose different music sets to play, said Mike Corsa, Weinberg ’06 and WNUR’s general manager last year.
Walters said he thinks WNUR is underrecognized because it plays alternative artists rather than mainstream music, but a combination of creative giveaways and loyal listeners led to this year’s record-breaking profit.
“It really speaks to the mentality of the radio listeners – the fact that we made $41,000 – people are sick of hearing the same thing every day, ” Walters said. “We like to think of ourselves as the alternative to the alternative.”
Reach Emily Glazer at [email protected].
