A special message from Al

When we launched FolkAlley.com, none of us imagined how quickly folk music fans would find Folk Alley and grow it into a community of more than 17,000 listeners – in less than a year!

I really love Folk Alley, and from the dozens of letters we receive each week, I know many of you do, too.

That said, Folk Alley now faces one of the biggest challenges of its young life.

Until now, Folk Alley has been financed with three pillars of support:

1. You, our listeners.
2. WKSU-FM, the nonprofit public radio station in Kent, Ohio, that employs us and produces FolkAlley.com.
3. Grants from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB).

This combination of funding has kept Folk Alley free and available to everyone, which was the overwhelming opinion of a listener survey we conducted several months ago.

Unfortunately, CPB has decided to reject any internet-based proposals, including a grant request we made earlier this year. The loss leaves Folk Alley without one of its all-important pillars.

Folk Alley is and will always be a non-profit venture. It’s a labor of love for everyone who works here. But it has real costs.

Along with asking my small but dedicated Folk Alley team to brainstorm a solution, I thought, let’s ask our smart, folk-loving listeners!

So I’m asking.

What are your ideas and suggestions on how to raise the operating support that we were hoping to receive from CPB? Working together, I know we can come up with solutions.

Post all of your ideas to this blog. Don’t worry if your idea sounds crazy. Given that we are working with very limited resources, we’re looking for creative ideas.

If you are connected with an organization or company that might work with Folk Alley as a grantor or a sponsor, post a note to this blog or email me at al.bartholet@wksu.org.

I know that, together, we can figure out how to keep Folk Alley going for all of us.

Al Bartholet, General Manager
FolkAlley.com
WKSU-FM