The Cash for Clunkers program didn’t put a dent in the donations of cars to Colorado Public Radio this year. In fact, in spite of the success of the clunker program, CPR’s auto bequests and donations are way up.
While there were 186 cars donated in the last fiscal year, there were 326 donated to CPR this fiscal year.
What to make of the uptick in vehicle donations? Either people who drive gas guzzlers don’t listen to public radio, and so weren’t diverted from Cash for Clunkers, or the tax write-off for donations to CPR is better than the clunker trade-in inducement.
Either way, the results provide a break from the usual gloom-and- doom for the media.
While most nonprofits have been hit hard by the recession, with donations down and many organizations reportedly expecting permanent damage from the financial crisis, CPR is bucking that trend.
“Through effective fundraising tactics and increased statewide listenership,” a CPR spokeswoman says, they’re doing better than expected.
Since the news side joined the classical music channel on the FM band in metro Denver (KCFR on 90.1 FM, KVOD on 88.1 FM), “Our net audience growth of nearly 40,000 listeners resulted in over 15 percent increase in membership revenue last year,” according to marketing manager Jennifer Flatt.
And that’s at a time when the public-radio system as a whole saw declines, notably from corporate donors. Layoffs and the cancellation of two programs by National Public Radio were attributed to the wider financial crisis. NPR reportedly lost about $13 million in the fiscal year that ended in September.
As we’ve often noted, the annoying on-air pledge drives continue because they work. CPR says it is consistently meeting on-air pledge drive goals.
A “Drive to Thrive” fundraiser surpassed its $1.6 million goal, boosting CPR to end the fiscal year in the black. The fall drive, ended last week, is one of three yearly pledge periods — usually 30 days a year, three 10-day drives in the fall, winter and spring. (Although “warp drives” can shave a day off the usual begathon.)
For the fall drive: CPR received 7,064 pledges. (They stopped the begging when they reached the stated goal of 7,000 pledges.)
The total amount pledged was $851,663.
That’s up from fall 2008’s totals of 5,856 pledges, amounting to $746,326.
Doogie sings.
Neil Patrick Harris lends his voice to a noteworthy animated rock-pop opera on “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” at 8:30 p.m. Friday on Cartoon Network. Harris plays the title role on the original episode, “Mayhem of the Music Meister,” a funny merger of Broadway- style production numbers, animation and traditional superhero bravery.
“I’m the Music Meister, and I’m here to settle the score,” Harris sings. Finger-snapping villains join the chorus. Batman fights the Meister’s musical mind control, singing, “This concerto of crime is over!”
Fans of Harris’ earlier underground musical, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” will want to catch this new effort, score by Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion and Lolita Ritmanis, who form Dynamic Music Partners; lyrics by Michael Jelenic and James Tucker. It’s amazing, fresh off his widely praised Emmy-hosting gig, that Harris — who could launch big-name projects in any medium — chose this small-scale forum for his next entry.
Greenest-guy contest.
Who’s the greenest guy on the block: Ed Begley Jr. or Bill Nye the Science Guy? Seems the Hollywood neighbors are launching Season 3 of their competition on “Living with Ed,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Planet Green. (Comcast Channel 201 in the Denver area.)
From composting to solar panels, water filters to psychic energy assessments, the half-hour series chronicle the push to be more environmentally friendly and gather more eco-toys than the other guy.
Ski TV.
Starz extends its deal with Boulder-based Warren Miller Entertainment for 10 years, starting in November with “Warren Miller’s Children of Winter” and including four other premieres through 2019, plus the Miller library of films.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
