One of our clients is a public radio station. Yesterday, they finished their ten day spring pledge drive. For those in the world that may not know, public radio and television stations in the US have pledge drives (usually twice a year), where they cut into their programming to plead with their audience to send them money. In return, these donors become "members" of the station and often receive a thank-you gift. Along with grants and underwriting, this is how stations make all their money, since they don't allow advertising. Yes, that's right: American media without advertising.

Our client's pledge drive went very well. They reached their goal of $30,000 yesterday, which is very good for a spring pledge drive, as people are usually more interested in spending time outdoors this time of year. Luckily it's been rainy. During the drive, I've been "on call", since we recently made many changes to the web application we built for them. I've been training people and fixing problems for pretty much the last ten days. It's an intense time for everyone involved.

Most of my time has been volunteered in recent weeks, as is the case for many others who answer phones, help out, and pitch during pledge breaks. The programmers (aka DJs) are also volunteers, so the quality music and other content we hear all year long is pretty much a labor of love for dozens of people.

And if you think American music is all glitzy crap without substance, listen to their streaming feed, particularly between the hours of 1 and 4 ET, or between 7 PM and 1 AM ET. Most of the music played on the station is wonderful stuff you probably won't hear elsewhere.

If you do listen, send them an email to let the station know where you're listening from. They've got a pin map with your name on it: