Montana Public Radio Annual Pledge Drive April 9th- 17th

Pledge Week aims to raise funds in wake of Federal funding challenge

Volunteers and staff at Montana Public Radio are gearing up for Spring Pledge Week 2011. With federal support for public broadcasting in question this year, member support is more important than ever. Listener support covers nearly 65% of the station’s annual operating budget.

"We so appreciate the generous community of listeners who support us," says MTPR General Manager William Marcus. "We’ve been able to grow our service for Montana primarily through contributions from those who value MTPR. That makes fundraising week a very important time for us," he said.

Montana Public Radio’s on-air fundraising event begins at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday April 9th and concludes with the wildly popular "Pet Wars," on Sunday April 17th at midnight.

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To make a financial contribution – call 243-6400 or on the web: http://www.MTPR.org and click the donate button

To donate items to be used as thank you gifts for listeners financial contributions: call 243-4044 or on the web: http://mtpr.org/support_donate_premium_form.html

To help answer phones April 9th – 17th call 406-243-4988

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Hundreds of businesses and individuals throughout Western Montana donate thousands of items and services which are used as thank you gifts for listener’s financial donations. Some of the most popular items are goat poop for compost, a day of sailing on Flathead Lake, homemade cakes and pies, weekend ski trips and gift certificates for dinners, massages, tarot card readings and many others.

Montana Public Radio is a public service of The University of Montana and receives financial support from its listeners, UM, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.