Underwriting at Black Sheep Radio The more you underwrite, the less you pay per announcement!     A. Monthly   B. Quarterly   C. Annually     Your Announcements             PLAN ONE 10 announcements / week   $100.00   $275.00   $1,000.00 Total Period Announcements   40   120   480 Price per announcement   $2.50   $2.29   $2.08   PLAN TWO 20 announcements / week   $180.00   $500.00   $1,800.00 Total Period Announcements   80   240   960 Price per announcement   $2.25   $2.08   $1.88                   Why underwrite? 1. Underwriting demonstrates support for community radio. 2. Underwriting reminds our listening audience of your business and conveys positive associations. 3. Underwriting is tax deductible. How is underwriting done? 1. You choose your budget from the table above. The more you underwrite, the less you pay per announcement. 2. The WOOL volunteers will work with you to craft an on-air announcement that suits your needs. 3. Announcements tell the audience about your business and contain Your company name, location, telephone number, and web address. Your established corporate slogan as long as it's not promotional. A "value neutral" description of your products or services. Trade names of the products and services you offer. Isn't this just advertising? While serving a similar purpose, underwriting differs from advertising in the way it is regulated. The rules governing our license to broadcast prohibit messages from sponsors that contain calls to action, promotional or qualitative language, price information, or inducements to buy or sell. When will my announcements air? We will air each of your announcements between 6:00 am and 9:00pm when most of our listeners are tuned in. At our sole discretion we may air additional repetitions of your announcements during other broadcast hours but we will not necessarily report these additional repetitions to you and make no guarantees of this additional repetition . We greatly appreciate your support and will work with you to reach our audience with your message. For more information visit us online at www.wool.fm or contact feedback@blacksheepradio.org		Underwriting In Principle
		Underwriting is the means by which businesses, foundations, organizations, and individuals can financially support the station and our mission and, in return, get notice for their support on the air. Underwriting is not advertising and, in fact, is tightly controlled by the Federal Communications Commission. WOOL is a non-commercial station and will remain so even after moving to our new license and our new more powerful signal. Non-commercial stations are exactly that: they are free of commercials. Underwriting is the term used to describe the regulated announcements of sponsors. The principle behind this regulated broadcasting of sponsor information is that non-commercial stations should retain the tone of organizations not designed for selling. Among the restrictions on things that can be said on-air on non-commercial radio are no prices, no value judgments, no calls to action, no comparative prejudicial statements. Often underwriting has no coersive language or supporting music. In these ways it is distinct from advertising which is disallowed both by WOOL's own principles and by our license under the auspices of the FCC.
		The History Of Our Finances & Audience
		In 2009 we at WOOL will embark on a new adventure in underwriting. For the first five years of our existence we believed that linking our programming in any way to commercial interests might change the development of the station for the worse. Instead, we relied on member donations and occasional fundraisers to generate the capital required to run the station. We did this by a unrelenting vigilance over our bottom line so that our financial requirements could rarely outstrip our very modest resources. Through the commitment of volunteers and the generosity of several members, we acquired some very fine equipment, outfitted a tidy little studio, tricked out our software solutions, and designed a very tight and workable infrastructure that is currently functioning at a great efficiency. This is not an easy enterprise to manage, as we all can imagine - more than fifty volunteers, thirty locally produced shows, twenty other shows imported on a weekly basis from networks, podcasts, websites, and individuals. Our content comes from as far away as California and as close as Walpole, NH. Stitching this all together into a cohesive day of programming is a minor miracle and we have done this entirely with volunteer labor - with the exception of one 10-hour per week paid assistant. As we have grown, so has our audience. Our membership has increased and with it our listenership. Our bumperstickers are on cars everywhere in the region. We have not spent money on the expensive research to pinpoint our audience and demographics. Information about our audience is anectdotal but it is nevertheless valid to say that we are now firmly entrenched as part of the regional community and have become a go-to station and website for are residents looking for local information and color.
		The Future Of Our Mission
		Within the near future, our license application to the FCC will be approved and from that day we will have eighteen months to go on the air in our full power incarnation. Some things will change, most importantly our position on the FM dial. We will grown instantly in our impact on the Vermont and New Hampshire countryside and cover a footprint nearly five times our current size. The challenges will be equivalent to the celebration and one thing that will change immediately will be our needs for cash flow. Among the initial costs of this transition is the purchase of more powerful broadcast equipment. Our current transmitter is mighty but even so, we will need to purchase a more powerful one to meet the power requirements of our new license. There will be a new antenna and the cost of sending a rigger up the giant tower on Fall Mountain to position it. Other equipment both in the studio and at the mountain will be required to make the leap to such a powerful station. In addition to the initial capital costs we will have increased monthly operating costs including higher license fees for playing copyrighted music, for example. A budget for all these changes is being developed and will be presented to our members in good time. On the bright side, of course, is the enhancement of not only our coverage but also of our footprint for fundraising. Finally we can reach out to people up and down the Connecticut River Valley with our programming and not be forced to depend entirely on the folks in view of our antenna to fund our station. We will link the disparate communities of the Connecticut River Valley and also link them to us. We will announce their events and support the programming they create. And we will benefit from their financial support, as well. It is inevitable. We will have more members who will support us with their dues. And we will have more access to businesses up and down the valley who can support us with - yes, the day is here - underwriting.