CJSW Funding Drive goes swimmingly, raises over $230,000

By Thomas Johnson, November 4 2018 —

Put another one in the books. The annual CJSW Funding Drive wrapped up Oct. 26, concluding a week of special programming and city-wide initiatives to raise funds to improve the station’s facilities. As hectic as it may be, the week long event paid dividends, as is tradition.

“It was a really busy time for us,” says Simon MacLeod, CJSW’s community development co-ordinator. “We finished on Friday at 6 p.m. with just over $220,000. We hit our goal [of $200,000] midday on Friday. Since the drive’s been done, we’ve still been getting some people donating online, so we’re sitting just over $230,000 right now.”

The funds raised will be going toward a backup transmitter, recorders for spoken word programming, digital controllers for the recording booths, backline for the band room and other small improvements for the overall upkeep of their campus headquarters.

While Funding Drive takes the form of a traditional telethon, online donations were also available, making for a more streamlined process.

“Our whole pledge system was online this year. The feedback from our donors and listeners was positive,” MacLeod continues. “It was nice to be able to look [a former pledge] up by email and having their information available. It made the whole process more fluid.”

Donations streamed in from around campus and the greater-Calgary area, though there were a few notable outliers. A map set up in the CJSW offices to track where the money was coming from showed pledges taken from, of all places, New Zealand, Norway and Chicago.

“It’s cool to see we’re not just on campus,” MacLeod says. “A big thank you to all of our supporters and listeners, on-campus and Calgary and around the world. It’s always interesting to see where the donations are coming from. We could not do what we do without them. This is a big deal for us, and it means a lot that they support us.”