WYSU fall fund drive has goal of $95,000

New members and those who renew memberships can win a trip to Greece.

YOUNGSTOWN — WYSU 88.5 FM, Youngstown State University’s public radio station, will kick off its annual fall fund drive Oct. 12.

The goal of the weeklong drive is $95,000.

Donors who become new members or who renew their membership will be entered into a drawing to win a pair of tickets on the WYSU/Go Ahead Tours-sponsored 13-day “Fables of Ancient Greece” tour.

The tour package, valued at $6,000, includes visits to some of the sites that marked the dawn of Western civilization, including Athens and Olympia.

Throughout the drive, the station will also be offering new HD radios as daily prizes. The special receivers are required to listen to the station’s high-definition musical broadcasts.

Memberships range from the $40 “WYSU Member” to the $1,000 “Director’s Circle.”

The money goes into a general development fund to support programming.

The station offered a trip to France and a $5,000 jewelry gift certificate in its $95,000 spring drive this year.

WYSU runs on an annual budget of $900,000.

Fund drives essential

Station Director Gary Sexton said the biannual fund drives are critical to the station’s success.

“Our on-air membership drives are the foundation of WYSU’s overall development efforts,” he said. “Our goal is ambitious but necessary. We depend more than ever upon our ever-growing audience to provide the bulk of funds for the high-quality radio programs that are important to them.”

Contributions to the fund drive can be made by phone at (330) 941-1481 or through a secure online server at www.wysu.org.

WYSU recently announced that it will gradually be moving to an all-news format on its primary channel at 88.5 FM, though Sexton made it clear that classical music will continue to be offered on the station’s high-definition, digital channel.

The changeover to all-news won’t fully take effect until at least 2011.

The station’s signal reaches as far as the Pittsburgh and Cleveland areas.

Other changes in WYSU’s future include moving from Cushwa Hall to as-yet undetermined new facilities, reconfiguring transmission facilities and creating a marketing program aimed at introducing a new brand and public service profile to the region by 2010.