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Can't Stop, Won't Stop.

April is a big fundraising month here at CKUA. Your donation makes everything happen. When you donate, you’re investing in an original, authentic broadcaster that values musical variety.

We can’t stop and we won’t stop working to create a bright future for CKUA. Join us April 25 – May 4, 2025.

As a donor-supported organization, CKUA needs more listeners to donate. This fundraising campaign is essential, and your support during the Spring Fundraiser is critical. We must significantly increase the financial support from our listening community.

DONATE MONTHLY DONATE ONE-TIME DONATE AN HOUR

CKUA’s Community Pillars:

CKUA nourishes the soul, while elevating a thriving arts sector. When you donate, you’re investing in an original, authentic broadcaster that values musical variety. We can’t stop and we won’t stop working to create a bright future for CKUA. With your help, CKUA creates a community that is welcoming, connected, healthy, and inspired.

We all need to belong. To connect. To find a place where we feel welcome. CKUA creates that community—a meeting place for people with a shared love of music, arts, and culture. And all are welcome. Your donation ensures CKUA continues to welcome everyone to this special and rare community where arts, music, stories, and belonging are celebrated.

CKUA connects people, through shared experiences and a common appreciation for original, authentic programming. When CKUA first went on the air in 1927, its mandate was clear: to bring the broadcast to the people. Early audiences, in Edmonton and in rural areas, heard music, radio dramas, farm reports, and university lectures. Your payment today ensures that the connection CKUA fosters remains strong.

Music can play a role in stress relief, mood regulation, and even pain relief. Music can make times of grief and isolation less overwhelming. CKUA nourishes minds and souls by offering musical programming that is thoughtful, positive, and authentic. Your support today allows the heartbeat of music, arts, and culture in Alberta to remain strong.

CKUA fosters artistic excellence and broadcasts to the world the latest news about festivals, concerts, and live performances. CKUA programming and interviews provide exposure to local, national and international artists, helping to sell tickets, fill venues, and draw visitors to local communities. The time is now to show your support for a more beautiful world.

Impacts that Matter:

475,000 people. That’s the growing number of unique listeners CKUA reaches each month, providing an authentic experience not found anywhere else. Most of CKUA’s funding comes from people like you, and every donation is important.

Did you know that last year, CKUA played music by more than three thousand Canadian artists? And did you know that a third of those artists are from Alberta? This unique platform is not funded by the government, and advertising revenue is limited. Donor support is the key to CKUA’s future.

Every year, CKUA airs hundreds of interviews with artists, festival planners, and creative people all around Alberta. This work grows careers, reaches new audiences, and supports a vibrant cultural sector in the province. The government doesn’t fund this work. Your donation makes it possible. Donate today!

126 hours. That’s the number of hours of original programming CKUA shares each week. Some hours are full of jazz. Other hours share classical symphonies and sonatas. And some have a little bit of everything: folk, pop, blues, funk, and soul. What these hours all have in common is that they are curated with care by real people. Hosts who love music just as much as you do. Your donation makes this authentic musical experience possible.  Donate today!

Let’s bust some common myths:

A common misperception is that we are based out of the U of A. Our call letters are “UA,” but we don’t receive student fees or university funding. We started at the U of A in 1927 and became part of the Government of Alberta in the 1940s. Since the mid-1990s we have been independent and donor-supported. Donate today!

Today, if you live outside Alberta, not a penny of your tax dollars supports CKUA. Each Albertan contributes $0.013  (yes, 1.3 cents) of their provincial tax to CKUA through an operating grant. Donate today!

CKUA is legally capped at 6 minutes of advertising per hour due to our charitable business model and public mandate. At 6 minutes in an hour, if we sell every minute we are legally allowed to sell, that’s a maximum of approximately $1.4M, while our operating budget is more than $8M. Donate today!

CKUA owns the Alberta Hotel in Edmonton as our broadcast and administrative home. While we do rent space out to office tenants, the building is intended to offset our operating costs. Today, the post-COVID real estate market has effectively collapsed in downtown Edmonton. This has put pressure on our operational finances while we weather this storm and seek new tenants. Donate today!

Costs are rising. Like every other organization or business, we face increased technology, utility and debt servicing costs.

CKUA’s business model works. Listenership is growing, and programming is deliberately diverse, attracting more young listeners than ever before.

CKUA must increase revenue. Fundraising and advertising sales must grow to meet rising costs. We don’t have any other way of monetizing public airwaves. Radio is a free, essential, service. We can’t charge a fee to everyone who tunes in.

Please support the radio in your life. We rely on listeners like you to pay for the programming we create. Your investment in CKUA keeps us on the air, accessible for everybody who needs it, 24/7.

For more information about CKUA and our financial picture, please view our 2024 Community Report.

Join Our Donor Community

Your Gift. Your Way. Your Direct Impact on CKUA and Music, Arts and Culture

DONATE MONTHLY DONATE ONE-TIME DONATE AN HOUR

Donating by cheque?
Please make cheque payable to CKUA Radio Foundation and mail to:

CKUA Radio Network
Alberta Hotel
9804 Jasper Avenue NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 0C5

Learn more about ways to amplify your support:

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Registered charity: 118776830 RR 0001