If you're not a staff member with WRUW, this page is meant to give you some context for this site so you can understand the purpose and focus more clearly. (We would also appreciate your signing our guestbook, too!)

Apparently, this website has become extremely popular with people at non-commercial stations around the world! We are amazed at the response this site has received. Thanks to all of the people have spread the word especially through CBI, NFCB and other sources.

Understanding the Purpose of this Site

As you read through the site, you will notice the site is very heavily targeted towards fundraising at one radio station. It's all about how we fund raise at WRUW-FM 91.1 in Cleveland, Ohio.

This website was created as a support site for our classroom-based training on "How to Be an Effective Fundraiser". Over the years, these classes have come to be known as "How to Beg" sessions. Hence, the title of this site is "How to Beg ... Online". As in, this is "the online version" of "How to Beg".

Our Fund Raising "Point of View"

Each year, WRUW does one on-air fundraiser. Just one. Usually in March or April. Call it a "radiothon", call it a "telethon", call it whatever ... basically we turn on the mics and ask for listener support just like lots of non-commercial, community, and public radio stations around the world.

Unlike many non-commercial stations, we do not have "memberships". We don't currently provide an option for monthly support or monthly billing. We currently only offer various pledge levels with associated premiums/gifts. So, rather than asking listeners to "renew their membership", we treat each year's fund drive as a fresh year of gaining support.

We do not currently have hourly goals for our program hosts.

Nor do we require pairings of staff members to host pledge breaks.

We also do not have on-air donation challenges or "matching" gifts from businesses, corporations or other individuals ... except as arranged by individual program hosts.

From all the things we don't do, you might think we're missing out on great funding opportunities.

You're probably right!

However, we are 99% volunteer, and we simply don't have the manpower that the above kinds of efforts demand. If we had a paid full-time, or even part-time, "Fundraising/Development Director", we might do things differently.

Consequently, since we don't follow the typical fundraising methodologies, maybe you'll see a fresh perspective here.

Or, maybe you'll see outdated thinking. :)

Please realize that this information is not meant to be presented as "our way is best for you." (After all, we never considered that this site would get so well known outside of WRUW!)

This is merely what works for us at WRUW as of the 21st century.

We update the site once a year in the weeks before the current year's telethon. Typically this means we update the site in March of each year.

We hope you find value in the information. Feel free to use our ideas as a springboard for ideas at your own radio station.

Understanding WRUW

WRUW-FM 91.1 in Cleveland, Ohio, is a non-commercial, community-oriented radio station based at Case Western Reserve University. The station began broadcasting on February 26, 1967, at 10 watts of power. Now in our 45th year of broadcasting, we are now at 15,000 watts and serve most of Northeast Ohio.

Although affiliated with a university, we are not affiliated with the university's communications department. We are a completely separate entity, classified as a "student activity". We receive half of our funding from a portion of each undergraduate student's yearly "activity fee". The other half of our funding we have to raise ourselves. We raise this money through program underwriting and a once-a-year on-air radiothon.

We are also not an NPR affiliate, nor do we use any of their programming. We do not receive any CPB money, nor any NTIA grants.

Our staff is a mix of undergraduate and graduate students, combined with a healthy dose of community volunteers. We have people who just joined us on air in the last few months ... and we have several staff members with over 30 years of involvement under their belts.

As indicated above, about 99% of the staff is volunteer. (Two of our student leaders, the General Manager and the Business Manager, receive small stipends for their work ... but everyone else volunteers their time.)

We enjoy a healthy amount of programming freedom in our on-air shows. There are no regimented playlists, and each show host picks the direction of his or her timeslot. Our programming can best be described as eclectic and freeform. We have a wide open schedule of programs, with something different every day during the week. We recognize that this is somewhat of a rarity in radio anymore, but it works well for us and our market.

You can listen to our programming online to get a taste of the station. We also currently keep a one-week archive of shows.

Thanks again for stopping by, and we hope you enjoy this site.

Who created this site

This site was created by David Caban, one of WRUW's community volunteers, and one of the station's top recipients of fundraising donations.

David started at the station in 1984 as an undergraduate at Case. He began hosting a show in early 1985, took the summer off, and came back on air in the fall of 1985, hosting a program of musicals and showtunes on Sunday afternoons. In 2010, David celebrated 25 years as host of that show, and still hosts it today. His show is consistently one of the top three "money makers" during the fundraiser, and he brings in over $2000 in two hours.

As a student, David ran the joint as General Manager from 1986 to 1988. He was instrumental in improving our fundraising training sessions during that time. Since then, he has served as Training/Recruitment Director, and a multitude of other leadership positions. Since 2003, he has been the station's Technical Director, leading the renovation of our studios and overseeing the volunteer "Tech Crew" who keep us on the air 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Now, why not listen to some of our audio samples?