When Republicans passed a bill slashing $550 million in annual federal funding for public broadcasting at the behest of President Donald Trump — including cuts to PBS, NPR and local stations — many feared for the future of public media. Instead, a cheering surprise emerged: nearly 120,000 new donors committed to fill the void, donating an estimated $20 million in annual value over the past three months, the New York Times reported Thursday.
Michal Heiplik, president and CEO of the Contributor Development Partnership, told the Times that surge has pushed total yearly contributions about $70 million higher than last year. And this isn’t just a one-off outpouring — sustaining membership among these new donors has jumped 51 percent year over year.
According to the report, fundraising campaigns on the very day of the budget vote garnered three times the response rate typical of end‑of‑year drives — traditionally the most successful appeals.
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Donor engagement is also reportedly up, with website traffic increasing as communities rally behind local stations.
Heiplik told the Times: “It is great to see the community respond as it shows how much appreciation (and need) there is for public media.”
“Now we need this level of support to continue as we reinvent the infrastructure impacted by loss of federal funding."
Some stations have witnessed a remarkable spike in donations since Congress approved the funding cuts. Amanda Mountain, president and CEO of Rocky Mountain Public Media (a PBS and NPR member network in Colorado), reported receiving 6,620 donations between Friday and Sunday, including 1,000 from new contributors. Impressively, one donor offered a $500,000 gift, she told the Times.
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At WUNC, an NPR member station in North Carolina, a recent fundraising drive exceeded $1 million. Meanwhile, WMNF in Tampa, Florida, raised over $280,250 — both stations seeing unusually generous support in the face of federal funding reductions, per the report.